earthworms, vital for soil productivity, are especially vulnerable. neonics affect their tunneling behavior and sperm quality. jean-marc bonmatin of the national center for scientific rearch in frce, was onof t lead authors of the group's findings. >> [speaking french] >> the task force says systemic pesticide contamination is so widespread that the diversity and stability of the world's ecosystems is at risk. the task force based its findings on an analysis of 800 peer-reviewed reports, the most comprehensive review of the scientific literature on systemic pesticides to date. when asked to comment, bayer crop science said the task force only oks at worst-case scenarios, and that studies under realistic field conditions show that systemic pesticides do not harm honeybees, birds, or other wildlife. >> the main concern with neonics is that they have such a high toxicity to a broad range of invertebrates, terrestrial and aquatic. they are extremely persistent and extremely mobile. and you put those 3 conditions together and you're talking about removal o

earthworm activity is my best measure of biological activity. what a gift this is. so justin, thank you for sharing your life with me. [applause] >> didn't you have an earthworm that was, like ors four feet -- four feet long? >> one of my friends has a photo -- i haven't town one -- >> that's incredible. >> these guys carry pictures of their worms to show each other. [laughter] >> i thought it was also cool that you grew wheat in, like, downtown cleveland? [laughter] pretty amazing. yeah, that's a great chapter. and no-till farming is so inspiring as a concept, just to read about it. having read a lot about, you know, the dust storms of the '30s and seeing the pictures of them and talked to people who are in them, it's just amazing to think that that's something that could be, that you could actually do something about. but, so i was just -- as i read your book, what impressed me was how down to, like, the square foot it got in terms of geography and in terms of the places where the people were. and it sort of reminded me, you know, that here sometimes in new york,