Firstly, Thank you for your interest in the article and please accept my apologies for not replying earlier. You are quite right (as Fred points out) to remind people that on our planet, no ecosystem is an island. Only relatively recently have we begun to realise the fantastic complexity of the links between all living things on Earth and the ways in which life and planet interact and affect each other.

My intention was never to seperate the issues, but simply to draw attention to the urgency of the potential threat which CCD presents. Research suggests that Global Warming is a longer term threat (50 – 100 years)and projections of its effects are so wildly at variance that we find ourselves largely paralysed when it comes to taking effective action.

By comparison, Colony Collapse Disorder is what American’s might define as ‘a clear and present danger’ requiring a swift response. My intention in using the phrase ‘forget climate change’ was to stir up interest and highlight the urgency of the matter…in your case it worked and again, I thank you for your interest. Maybe sometimes, we have to deal with issues one step at a time, even though they are essentially the same at heart. Unless we break the problem down into bite size pieces, politicians will continue to do what they do best and fudge the issue.

So…from where I stand, the bees are first in line – if we lose our food supply, Global Warming becomes an issue for the insects. And by the way, Fred’s comment that ‘corals supply more oxygen than plants’ is misleading. It is actually the ocean’s phytoplankton which do that.

Again, thanks for you interest.

Best wishes,
Bob.

Corals supply more oxygen to the planet than plants and trees do – not a lot of people know that. They [corals] are already on the extinction list because of climate and sea warming.

My own belief is that the climate is warming up, but that we have no proof that this is 100% man-made. For all we know, the warm-up may be normal for the planet, a cycle of its existence. Extinction is normal too of course; extinction happens all of the time; humans are next…