#2: Where are the Butterflies?
Depending on where you grew up, you may have seen huge swarms of monarch butterflies every spring or fall. Monarchs migrate south for their winter hibernation, landing in California or Mexico to wait out the cold winter months up north. However, many people have noticed that the giant swarms of these beautiful creatures have dwindled over the decades.
If you’ve noticed this, you’re not imagining things. Monarch butterfly populations are threatened by human intervention and climate change. The caterpillars that eventually transform into monarchs depend on milkweed as a source of food in the north, but milkweed has dwindled due to pesticides. Plus, the fir trees where they hibernate in Mexico are getting cut down, further threatening their population.