Food, soil, water: how the extinction of insects would transform our planet

A bee covered with pollen lands on a common mallow. Insect populations are estimated to have declined by up to 75% since the 1970s, with huge effects on pollination of food crops. Photograph: Thomas Kienzle/AFP/Getty

Cut an apple in half, and the white flesh reveals a cluster of black pips arranged in the shape of a star. It is a tiny constellation of seeds hidden in the fruit bowl. But it reveals an interlinked universe of pollination and nature’s abundance – a delicate system, and one that can easily be thrown off course.

When the apple blossoms are pollinated, seeds pump out hormones telling the plant to produce the right vitamins, minerals and rate of growth. They help formulate crunchiness, size and shape. Lose those pollinators, however, and this fragile system becomes unbalanced. If only three or four of the seeds get pollinated, our apple may grow lopsided. The nutritional value might decrease, as could the shelf-life of the fruit, turning it brown and wrinkled before its time.