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Sunday, September 22nd, 2019

Birds Are Vanishing From North America

Author:     Carl Zimmer
Source:     The New York Times
Publication Date:     Sept. 19, 2019
 Link: Birds Are Vanishing From North America
Stephan:   The bees are vanishing. The butterflies are nearly gone. And now the birds are in sharp decline. I do SR every day and read something like 80 publications to prepare each edition so that I can understand the trends that are shaping our future. Increasingly and mostly the determinant trends are: stupidity, greed, incompetence, indifference, racism, and more greed. These forces shape everything in America. They are why we don't have healthcare, why our schools are failing, why we have such ridiculous wealth inequality, our prisons are centers of human rights atrocities, the Republican Party is a cult, the Democratic Party is weak and feckless, and why we are literally destroying the ecology of which we are a part, even though it means our own destruction. I foresee the death of millions and the collapse of American society, and I guess that is what it is going to take to bring about the change necessary for humanity to survive. I feel so sorry for the Millennials, Gen Zs, and those even younger. I am afraid their lives are going to be very very hard, and I am embarrassed and apologetic. None of it was necessary. All of it could have been avoided.

The skies are emptying out.

The number of birds in the United States and Canada has fallen by 29 percent since 1970, scientists reported on Thursday. There are 2.9 billion fewer birds taking wing now than there were 50 years ago.

The analysis, published in the journal Science, is the most exhaustive and ambitious attempt yet to learn what is happening to avian populations. The results have shocked researchers and conservation organizations.

In a statement on Thursday, David Yarnold, president and chief executive of the National Audubon Society, called the findings “a full-blown crisis.”

Experts have long known that some bird species have become vulnerable to extinction. But the new study, based on a broad survey of more than 500 species, reveals steep losses even among such traditionally abundant birds as robins and sparrows.

There are likely many causes, the most important of which include habitat loss and wider use of pesticides. “Silent Spring,” Rachel Carson’s prophetic book in 1962 about the […]

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2 Comments

  1. Will on Sunday, September 22, 2019 at 5:54 am

    In beautifully wooded central NC I have observed this situation for myself. The last 3 or so years have been the most dramatic in the disappearance of insects and birds. My dog Zak and I frequent a large local lake seeing fewer birds of all sorts particularly small ones. This year is the worst with virtually no birds of any kind on the lake. Until this year numbers of gulls, ducks, herons and others would be seen in flocks on he water, this year none. It is heartbreaking to be out in this beautiful natural place that is so empty and quiet.

    Our world is dying while the national conversation devolves into needless Trumpian conflict, chaos, cruelty, corruption and deeper immersion in screens. Currently the big money and big minds are focused on finding another world to inhabit maybe Mars. This is it folks there is no other place to go. We will live for die on planet Earth lets pull together as we have in war time to make the necessary changes to renew our only home.

  2. Rev. Dean on Sunday, September 22, 2019 at 5:48 pm

    When I went up my ladder to harvest grapes last week, about 20-25 Sparrows took in flight from the top of my grape vine. I see no difference here where I live. I even have birds living on my house up on top of the wood which holds the roof up had a large nest there, and there is bird droppings all over my front porch. I have so many birds I can’t get rid of them. I appreciate the things they do though like eat some of the bugs in my garden, so I cannot complain.