--- title: What Is Killing Off the Pollinators? description: Over 75% of types of crops rely on bees, butterflies and other critters to pollinate plants. A new U.N. report shows these pollinators are dying fast, threatening global food security. Here's why. canonical: https://time.com/4246095/what-is-killing-off-the-pollinators/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-03T10:57:28.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T15:34:57.790Z article:section: Science og:title: What Is Killing Off the Pollinators? og:description: Over 75% of types of crops rely on bees, butterflies and other critters to pollinate plants. A new U.N. report shows these pollinators are dying fast, threatening global food security. Here's why. og:url: https://time.com/4246095/what-is-killing-off-the-pollinators/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: What Is Killing Off the Pollinators? twitter:description: Over 75% of types of crops rely on bees, butterflies and other critters to pollinate plants. A new U.N. report shows these pollinators are dying fast, threatening global food security. Here's why. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # What Is Killing Off the Pollinators?  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Mar 3, 2016 10:57 AM UTC  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Mar 3, 2016 10:57 AM UTC LAND-USE CHANGES Pollinators thrive in diverse habitats with a mix of native vegetation. But converting land for agriculture often destroys that biodiversity, reducing pollinator health. DISEASE AND PARASITES Bees in particular have been victimized by a range of microscopic threats, which can weaken them–and leave them more vulnerable to other dangers. PESTICIDE USE Pesticides like neonicotinoids can kill not only the insects that destroy harvests but also some of the bees, bats and other bugs that help crops reproduce. CLIMATE CHANGE Rising global temperatures shift the range of habitats where bees and other pollinators can survive. Scientists fear current trends could worsen as the world warms. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4246095/what-is-killing-off-the-pollinators/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4246095/what-is-killing-off-the-pollinators/"},"headline":"What Is Killing Off the Pollinators?","datePublished":"2016-03-03T10:57:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T15:34:57.790Z","description":"Over 75% of types of crops rely on bees, butterflies and other critters to pollinate plants. A new U.N. report shows these pollinators are dying fast, threatening global food security. Here's why.","url":"https://time.com/4246095/what-is-killing-off-the-pollinators/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4246095/what-is-killing-off-the-pollinators/","name":"What Is Killing Off the Pollinators?"}}]}] ```