This undated photo courtesy of the US Fish & Wildlife Service shows the little brown bat hanging at Greeley Mine in Stockbridge, Vermont affected by white-nose syndrome. A collapse in North America's bat population led to a surge in pesticide use by farmers as an alternative way to protect their crops -- in turn triggering a rise in infant mortalities, a study revealed on September 5, 2024. The paper, published in Science, provides evidence supporting predictions that global biodiversity decline will have severe consequences for humans."Ecologists have been warning us that we're losing species left and right, and that extinction rates are orders of magnitude higher than what they think they should be, and that that will potentially have catastrophic impacts on humanity," author Eyal Frank, of the University of Chicago, told AFP. (Photo by Handout / US FISH & WILDLIFE SERVICE / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / US Fish & Wildlife Service" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS / TO GO WITH AFP STORY by Issam AHMED, "US bat decline triggered pesticide surge and over 1,000 infant deaths: study" (Photo by HANDOUT/US FISH & WILDLIFE SERVICE/AFP via Getty Images)