In what is likely the most depressing story you will read all day, scientists have determined that your car makes flowers smell less sweet. Green Car Congress has the details of a new University of Virginia study which concludes that air pollution diminishes the fragrance of flowers, making it harder for insects to pollinate them. The study, published in Atmospheric Journal, offers this explanation for documented declines in wild pollinators like bees. "The scent molecules produced by flowers in a less polluted environment, such as in the 1800s, could travel for roughly 1,000 to 1,200 meters; but in today's polluted environment downwind of major cites, they may travel only 200 to 300 meters," says co-author Jose D. Fuentes. "This makes it increasingly difficult for pollinators to locate the flowers." Researchers found that the scent compounds released by flowers to attract pollinators tend to be volatile and quickly bond with pollutants such as ozone, hydroxyl and nitrate radicals, which destroy or modify the aromas they produce. The symbiotic relationship between flowering plants and pollinators means that this breakdown can prevent reproductions for flowers and cause starvation for pollinators. Using computer models, researchers found that scent compounds likely traveled much farther in pre-industrial times than today, when pollution levels tend to be highest during the mid-summer pollination peak.
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Thank god corn-for-ethanol is self pollinating….
Once we run out of oil, this won’t be a problem, will it?
Meh — the insects with better noses will win out.
Go Darwin.
How come air pollution doesn’t prevent a freshly manured field smell from a mile away? I guess the saying “flies on shit” won’t be relinquished anytime soon.
Modern cars put out barely measurable levels of ozone, nitrates, and hydroxyl radicals. Add that to the fact that ozone and hydroxyl are very reactive in general, and likely find something in the air to react with long before it comes across scent particles. You could say that trace amounts can add up, but that mostly occurs in urban areas, where there aren’t many flowers anyway.
Anyone can make a computer model for a scent, add in a bunch of reactive chemicals that have nothing else to react to, and “prove” that car exhaust kills flower scent.
I’m not saying that I know for sure that cars don’t have an effect, but any computer model has to be taken with a grain of salt. The simulation’s environment is completely up to the programmer, and may be totally removed from reality.
seoultrain,
Your point is well taken but it doesn’t matter. The greenies will still use this as another nail in the coffin of personal tranportation. I guess the Dodge Super Bee wasn’t so super eh?
So does Europe have even less polinators that the US? I would think the diesel fumes would kill the scent of flowers even more.
“The scent molecules produced by flowers in a less polluted environment, such as in the 1800s, could travel for roughly 1,000 to 1,200 meters; but in today’s polluted environment downwind of major cites, they may travel only 200 to 300 meters,” says co-author Jose D. Fuentes.
Have these people looked at the pollution in major cities, air and water, from the 1800’s and before? Will they? The obvious answer is no and no. That wouldn’t fit in with the pre-ordained outcome of the study. How do they know how far the scent molecules traveled in the 1800’s? Were there scientists measuring this and how did they do it? This whole study appears to be a study in propaganda not science.
I’m with Jonny on this one…
This is the key statement…
Using computer models, researchers found that scent compounds likely traveled much farther in pre-industrial times than today
As others have pointed out, creating a computer “model” to arrive at a predetermined result is what programmers do all day long. Note also the waffling words thrown in to cover their asses… “likely” and “much”. Calling that science is more than a little disingenious.
Using a little simple logic, if what they’re saying is true, there shouldn’t be hardly any pollinators left in England. They’ve been heavily polluted going back much longer than the US. Oddly enough, I’ve never heard of England having a problem with a lack of pollinators…
Nice, yet another cause for the Environmental Wackos.
If this were true, it would have been more of a problem in the US in past years than in the present (see Seoultrain, above). Air pollution in most parts of the country–certainly those where cars were the big problem–is not as bad as it used to be. Even the NJ Tpk doesn’t smell as bad as it used to. (And highly industrial cities like Philly were just as bad 30 years ago, as they are now.) Furthermore, there are plenty of more likely theories about what’s killing bee colonies.
@GS650G:
“Wackos” is the operative word. Smart, thoughtful environmentalists aren’t going to pay much attention to this one.
Smart, thoughtful environmentalists… Hmm… Boy, it would sure be nice if smart, thoughtful environmentalists could rid their ranks of the other kind.