cockroaches they're pretty gross right
the thought of lying asleep at night and
not realizing that a cockroach has just
crawled at the wall and across your face
is nightmare fuel enough and its reason
for the innate human reaction to keep
cockroaches out of our homes after all
they're pests for a reason and an entire
industry has been built around making
sure that these little critters don't
linger in our bathrooms and kitchens
comfortably enough but what if that same
industry went too far what if they
reached maximum efficiency and killed
every cockroach ever
what if cockroaches went extinct let's
find out hello Internet what's going on
and once again welcome back to the most
acquisitive channel on YouTube life's
biggest questions as per usual I'll be
oldest emotive floating voice Jack Finch
as today we curiously ask the question
what if cockroaches were next inked
wrote it
for the curious amongst you of course
that clip was from 1997's men in black
starring Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith
and you know what we're gonna say don't
you if there ever was any reason to
hypothetically ponder on why we should
turn cockroaches toward extinction it's
in the potential of an alien cockroach
based species that could hijack an
unassuming farmer and clamber around in
his skin soup because yeah hey guys are
that saying that's pretty horrifying and
whilst being a pretty poignant visual
depiction for this life's biggest
question it's also a reassuring reminder
that thankfully for us real-life
cockroaches are far less terrifying than
their men in black counterparts so
what's all the fuss about them what
drives as human beings to be so
squeamish when faced with these little
bug guys we have to ask ourselves the
question what sets them apart from their
insectoid brethren flies bees even
spiders which we can relatively tolerate
in our own homes
you see we fear cockroaches on a
completely different level we fear that
one cockroach is only indicative of a
wider infestation and the sight of them
instead heralds a hive of cockroaches
burrowed deep within our walls
we humans are in fact a relatively
sanitary species for the most part and
scoping site of a cockroach strikes the
same fear in us that our house is dirty
enough to sustain them and then
obviously we get to the whole cockroach
scurrying across our faces whilst we
sleep thing and also you know burrowing
in is because yeah that can happen and
yeah now I feel a little bit queasy the
thing is we should have this fear
historically cockroaches are indicative
of spreading disease and the sight of
them particularly in environments such
as hospitals and kitchens is generally a
very bad thing cockroaches can passively
transport pathogenic microbes on their
body surfaces and are widely linked with
allergic reactions in human beings
primarily being asthma down to the
tropomyosin protein that they carry on
their backs as well as bacterial
diseases such as Salmonella and Shigella
but the thing is we need to wind this
whole thing back a little bit because
when we're talking about cockroaches as
pests really we only mean four specific
species the German cockroach the
you can cockroach the Australian
cockroach and the oriental cockroach you
see astonishingly there are over 4,600
species of the humble cockroach of about
30 of which are associated with human
habitats and only four of which are the
stereotypical pests that we find in our
homes the others well they're an
integral part of our ecosystem they're
living it up in cockroach paradise out
in the wild places of the planet free
from being stamped by a boot on a dirty
kitchen floor the Madagascar hissing
cockroach the Indian Domino cockroach
the australian giant burrowing cockroach
countless numbers of inquisitive and
ingenious insectoid creations but in the
parameters of this life's biggest
question we're not only getting rid of
the cockroach that we consider pests but
these several thousand species that are
widely inoffensive forever all of them
gone never to return to this planet that
we call earth ever again
and once that may sound like a great
thing for all of you cockroach haters
out there it's really not and in classic
lbq fashion the extinction of all of the
cockroaches on earth would likely spell
the collapse of our planet's entire
ecosystem all right okay I am joking in
this regard our planet could indeed
survive this horrifyingly mundane
debacle but it would have incredible
consequences and it would be
touch-and-go as to how long it took the
planet to return to relative equilibrium
following the cockroaches tragic
departure also the extinction of any
species is a sad moment in this brief
universal experience that we all share
and it goes without saying but the main
mechanics of this eco collapse would be
down to one function and one function
alone cockroaches for many other species
are food and as any species that just
had their food source hypothetically
vanished away
we'll find things get very interesting
when there's nothing left to eat
worldwide cockroaches are a significant
food source for many birds and small
mammals mainly being mice and rats
now although none of these animals are
solely reliant on cockroaches for food
obviously any small diminish in a
reliable food source only spells bad
things for the hungry and the knock-on
effect of more mice and rats dying off
would further impact the species that in
turn
prey on them wild cats coyotes wolves a
huge amount of reptiles as well as
and other birds of prey and not only
that but cockroaches in the world play
an integral role to the delicate
biogeochemical balance of our atmosphere
in the nitrogen cycle which is of an
utmost importance to our planet
particularly if we apply the
increasingly disastrous effects of
climate change to the equation because
anything that makes growing more trees
difficult is indeed a very bad thing you
see most species of cockroaches that
occur in the wild feed on decaying
organic matter found within the forest
floor the vast majority of this decaying
organic matter traps a boatload of
nitrogen and by feeling on this matter
the cockroaches in turn release that
nitrogen the next time they take a poo
and then in turn again that ends up
being released into the soil and used by
plants to maintain a healthy forest
obviously getting rid of all of these
vitally important cockroaches would have
a massively adverse effect on the health
of our planet's forests and in turn all
of the species that live in them so you
know what we served the extinction of
cockroaches probably wouldn't spell the
end of the world yeah maybe we should
rethink that whole statement the thing
is though could we even cause the
extinction of all cockroaches on this
planet I mean there are pre hardy
species either way is often suggested
that cockroaches will inherit the earth
if our species is ever foolish enough to
destroy ourselves in a nuclear war and
whilst that urban legend has been widely
taken off hand the substance behind it
is rooted in a hard truth cockroaches
are pretty metal individuals and they
certainly wouldn't take extinction lying
down hypothetical or otherwise so the
next time you think about stamping on a
cockroach as it scuttles beneath your
fridge think about these thousands of
species out in the wild saving our
planet one nitrate-rich poo at a time
now that we have it our long and short
answer to the question what if
cockroaches went extinct what do you
guys think do you agree disagree have
any cockroach based in sight of your own
then let us know your thoughts down in
the comment section below as well as any
choice pics of your own before depart
from today's video though if you'd like
to continue on your questioning binge
then please feel free to take a look and
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disembodied flowing voice Jack Finch
you've been watching life's biggest
questions and until next time you take
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