Today is World Metrology Day and World Bee Day, two important occasions which remind us how closely our daily lives are linked to precise measurements and wildlife.
Metrology is the science of measurements and measuring instruments. It ensures precision in temperature, length, mass and complex physical processes, which is needed in science, industry, health care and environmental monitoring.
On 20 May 1875, 17 countries signed the Metro Convention, which formed the basis for the International System of Units (SI). Today, 51 countries have signed the Convention. World Metrology Day is celebrated annually to commemorate this event.
Today we also celebrate World Bee Day to highlight the importance of these invaluable pollinators to our ecosystems and food production.
Researchers of the Nature Research Centre are studying how climate change is affecting relationship between insects and plants. For example, changes in temperature can cause mismatches between bee activity and plant flowering periods, affecting both bee survival and plant reproduction.
Recent studies have shown that wild bees are up to 4 times more diverse in natural grasslands than in intensively farmed fields.
Dr Laima Blažytė-Čereškienė, Head of NRC Laboratory of Chemical and Behavioural Ecology, has been investigating bee health and behaviour for many years and coordinates international projects such as INSIGNIA-EU, which uses bees as bioindicators to assess environmental pollution. She also leads projects to conserve the native dark bee (Apis mellifera mellifera) in Lithuania.
These two dates remind us that our ability to understand and protect the world depends directly on scientific progress – both precision in measurements and species conservation.
