Pretty much what I went through, except actually less than ten miles from the Whitehouse.
Then again, you get outside any of the cities and the windshield gets bug splattered as always.
Trillions upon trillions of insects versus humanity? I'd bet on the insects.
Yup, we'll just be left with the insects that can adapt quickly - cockroaches, aphids, ants - and not the insects we need/want - bees, butterflies, etc.
We are on the path, but we still didn't create something that Nature couldn't outdo. And then there are those interstellar (e.g. supernovas) and pan-galactic (e.g. gamma ray bursts) killers...
We'd have to spend a while building a supply of big cobalt-salted bombs because the nuclear arsenals we've actually had have come nowhere near to the level required to wipe out all people let alone all insects.
It is conceivable a few might live, but it is also entirely possible the survivors would be too irradiated to sustain a breeding populations. Vast plant populations would die off, only those not directly blasted and able to survive a few years of artificial global winter survive. This presumes the dust is also non-reflective, because if it lowers the Earth's albedo enough it could trigger an ice age. If that happens then pretty much no individuals survive the triple threat of nuclear blasting, perpetual winter and loss of vegetation, unless they have some uncommon radiation resistance and incredibly low nutrition requirements. In this last paragraph was I talking about humans or insects? Doesn't matter; the cost of nuclear war is too high for us to talk about it lightly, because it is an awesome power that can destroy us if used lightly.
Got one of this for my lawn about 8 years ago and it was probably the best investment i've made for the lawn. Not only does it remove the maintenance but it also keeps the grass cut to a certain length, drying out the weeds and fertilising the grass with the smaller cut off parts. On top of that it's electric.
I agree, trees would be better but in your situation i can only recommend it.
EDIT: Forgot to mention, mine been running for 8 years with only 1 battery replacement and the occasional razor blade replacement. The climate where i live is really rainy and it has survived so far.
you can manually do both of these things though
*http://www2.fiskars.com/Products/Gardening-and-Yard-Care/Ree...
The big problem with reel mowers is that they only work well when the grass is already short. If the grass grows too tall (which isn't that much), the mower just pushes the grass over, or gets bogged down in it. So you have to be absolutely religious in cutting the grass on time. I've used reel mowers at a couple of houses I've lived in; they were great when the grass area of the yard was tiny and the grass didn't grow too quickly. But where I am now, there's just no way.