20 Quadrillion Ants Are Roaming Earth Right Now, Scientists Calculate - CNET

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When Mark Wong set out to analyze 489 entomological studies spanning every continent, major habitat and biome on Earth, he had a simple goal: Count the ants.

"We further estimate that the world's ants collectively constitute about 12 megatons of dry carbon," said Wong, an ecologist at the University of Western Australia's School of Biological Sciences.

"This enormous bulk of ants on Earth heavily underscores their ecological value, as ants can punch above their weight in providing key ecological functions," Wong saidO

But when it comes to counting ants specifically, as Wong did, there's an urgency stemming from the rate at which our climate is changing.

Scientists must quantify how many ants, as well as other animals and insects, exist on Earth because the climate crisis -- a threat exacerbated by human activity -- is forcing global temperatures to rise and therefore putting these organisms at risk of extinction

"We need people to rigorously and repeatedly survey and describe the ecological communities of different habitats before they are lost," Wong said, emphasizing that the team's recent work provides an important baseline for ant populations, so we know how these insects' communities might change in tandem with a warming climate

Wilson: "Ants make up two-thirds of the biomass of all the insects

"Things like counting ants," he said, "taking photographs of the insects they encounter in their backyard and noting observations of interesting things that plants and animals are doing can go a long way