This means that each dollar given to Givewell prevents about a trillion years of insect life! And these estimates have been pretty conservative. It means that you personally might prevent 5 quadrillion insects from coming into existence throughout the history of Earth.
I think you mean each life saved, not $ donated, prevents 1 T arthropod-years (= 10^(22 − 10)). Likewise, I think you mean each person might prevent 1 T arthropod-years.
It’s not clear exactly what impact this has on how we should give.
Thanks for the great post, Matthew!
I think you mean each life saved, not $ donated, prevents 1 T arthropod-years (= 10^(22 − 10)). Likewise, I think you mean each person might prevent 1 T arthropod-years.
I plan to publish a post about this on Tuesday.
I have now published a post about the cost-effectiveness of interventions accounting for soil nematodes, mites, and springtails.