There Go The Birds
It’s all over the news today. Nearly a third of 800 U.S. bird species are imperiled or in significant decline. A comprehensive new report cites among the threats to bird species energy development, suburban sprawl and agricultural practices.
The “State of the Birds” report shows sobering declines for rare birds on the Hawaiian islands and in ocean habitats, grasslands and arid lands. But it shows waterfowl and wetland birds rebounding, an improvement that conservation groups touted as evidence of the success of habitat-protection programs.
Some of the sobering news:
• More than half of the monitored bird species that live on prairies have experienced population losses. These birds, such as the lesser prairie chicken, are threatened by farmers converting grasslands into corn fields to meet demand for biofuels.
• In the Arctic, where two-thirds of all shorebirds are species of concern, melting ice brought about by climate change could open up more areas to oil and gas production. Studies show that trash near drilling rigs attracts gulls that prey on other species.
• Mountaintop coal mining in Appalachia clears patches of forest contributing to the decline of birds like the cerulean warbler that breeds and forests in treetops.
Nathan was thinking green at 7:36 AM on March 20, 2009
Comments are sorta kinda broken right now. We're working on it but to save energy can only work in daytime when solar system is at peak performance.
