http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
http://www.ars.usda.gov/News/
Maybe you guys have been following this colony collapse disorder (CCD) crisis. But since 2006, as much as 90% of honeybee hives in US communities have suddenly died in a matter of months (this has been observed in EU nations too). Bees are some of the most evolved, beautiful, and efficient creatures in natural history, and the species is 100M years old (humans have been using them for honey for 6K years). Their mass deaths are likely attributed to human actions. Analysis of dead bees reveals symptoms similar to human AIDS - their immune systems were compromised, which hampers digestion, cognition, and makes it easier for fungi, mites, or other pathogens to attack them. Also, forager bees (that usually have excellent navigation and communication) fly out in search of food, but then don't communicate normally and don't find their way back, so the hive starves.
Weakly-supported culprits include wireless radiation, pesticides, global warming/pollution, and GM crops with anti-pest properties. Concentrated pesticides and pollution can definitely kill bees, but CCD also occurs in areas without high incidences of these phenomena. It's most likely a confluence of several of these factors, and maybe others that we haven't identified yet. The presence of a virus in CCD-affected bees seems to be the most prevalent stressor, but the virus alone can't account for all the deaths. Some research is now directed towards cross-breeding virus-resistant African bees with domestic honeybees, but that is no guarantee of eliminating CCD (and new GM species carry their own concerns).
Bees pollinate over 100 key flowering crops (including some plants that our livestock eats), contribute to 30% of our food supply (pretty much all ag. products besides staple grains that self-fertilize), and their low-cost services are worth at least $15B in economic output to the US. 3/4 of all current plant species depend on animal pollinators to reproduce. There is no insect substitute but the less effective and more fragile butterfly, and as far as I know only one province in China is trying out another species. They use human workers to spread pollen in their lucrative pear orchards, after industrial pollution wiped out local bees. Already in the US, habitat loss from urbanization and air pollution have wiped out most indigenous bees prior to this CCD crisis. Now there is a need for commercial beekeepers to truck mobile domesticated hives around the nation to pollinate various crops when in season (if local bears don't get to the honey-rich hives first). But among that population, about 1/3 of them (or 800K hives) have collapsed. Now we depend on costly Australian bee imports to make up the shortfall.
CCD should be a reminder of how fragile our civilization actually is without the help of very simple organisms that we take for granted. But their destruction will almost certainly lead to ours (or at least a more monotonous, unhealthy diet), so it behooves us to be much more aware and careful. Is it worth it to risk this much just to squeeze out some bucks of profit from another megawatt, strip mall, or bushel of corn? It's easy for industrialists to keep up their damaging practices while they hide behind the excuse of "where's the proof?", and nothing will change without new laws or massive public uproar.
Scientists think we're almost "lucky" to observe CCD, because it serves as a reminder and indicator of environmental stress likely due to human actions. Who knows about all the other harmful, toxic processes and problems that go unnoticed? Companies should be required to strongly demonstrate safety before being permitted to sell new products, like we do with drugs and foods. The absence of evidence of harm doesn't necessarily prove safety. And environmental impact assessments are clearly lacking if we approve so many projects that still end up causing damage down the road. But I forgot, regulations kill jobs. Well irresponsible companies kill living things, including people. What do we prefer?
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