Where have all the birds gone?
I am an early riser. I love to be here for each new day, and I especially love mornings.
In the spring and summer, as the dawn begins to unfold, I have always enjoyed the first chirps of our feathered friends as they too begin their day. No matter where you live, the morning song of our birds is special. In the evening as the days closes once again, the chorus fills the land. During the day, it蘑菇视频 always a special treat to watch the nests being built and soon those little feathery heads peek out to greet us and see what is going on outside the warmth and comfort of the nest.
This year seems different and perhaps the past few years have been different but I just started noticing the diminished presence of the morning singing and chirping of our birds. Something is going on and this past week, several articles about the declining bird populations hit home. Yes there is less chirping and singing, and yes, there appears to be fewer birds.
The National Audubon Society on October 10 issued an alarming report about the declining bird population, not only locally, but worldwide. The report discusses the fact that perhaps two thirds of the worlds bird population is at risk because of climate change. Loss of habitat from increase temperatures and more fires and storms are making life more difficult.
In the past half century, the population has already declined by an estimated three billion birds due to pesticides, collisions with man-made structures and feral house cats. Research using just a three degree rise in temperature shows 389 bird species to be at risk of extinction by the year 2100. Rising global temperatures are pushing bird populations northward and all Arctic breeding birds will likely disappear if the planet continues to warm.
A bit of hope exists in the fact that there may be some adaptation. It is interesting to note how the bald eagle population has made a comeback after the pesticide DDT was discontinued. Bald eagles are again frequently cited along our Yough River and a small population is living in the Pittsburgh area.
Speaking of adaptation, Forbes magazine in a September issue has a great article about how few investments produce the rich returns that climate adaptation does. Since 2005, every dollar spent by the Federal Emergency Management Agency on mitigation saves taxpayers $4. A 2017 updated study found a benefit of $6 for every dollar spent. You may recall this is the agency that performed so miserably during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The agency is much better organized today to respond to climate disasters and have developed a mitigation approach rather than a wait until it happens focus.
According to the adaptation portion of the National Climate Assessment Program, if cost effective adaptation were put in place today, damage to coastal property could cost up to $820 billion by 2100. With no adaptation the cost would be $3.6 trillion. To get communities to invest in adaptation, we need to emphasize the short term benefits. With climate impacts already affecting many communities this shouldn鈥檛 be difficult.
As the birds adapt so too we need to give it a try. Birds are the canaries in the coal mine. We need to pay attention now.