Pixel DiaryMar 7
Vitskapsdama

"Ask most people, and the image of wind turbines as bird killers still persists, often amplified by anti-renewable rhetoric. But if you look at the hard data, a different story emerges. It turns out that while wind turbines do kill birds, they are statistically insignificant compared to the bigger killers we have in our cities and in our bedrooms. In fact, when you factor in climate change, wind power might actually help birds."

Data not only shows the relative impact of wind turbines on bird deaths, but also gives us the insight to reduce their impact further.

https://www.zmescience.com/feature-post/technology-articles/sustainability/renewable-energy/birds-and-wind-turbines/

#windpower #science #debunk #renewableenergy #sustainability

The Myth That Wind Farms Are a Guillotine for Birds Is Being Debunked by Hard Data

The harm caused by wind turbines isn't nearly as bad as you think.

ZME Science
Mar 7 at 7:58amWeb
Show threadBlacksmithMar 7
@vitskapsdama maybe just avoid bird migration routes, to keep those numbers low.
Show threadOrion Ussner kidderMar 7
@Blacksmithoz @vitskapsdama Exactly. There are environmental impact assessments for a reason. Put them where they do the least harm. There's a formula for these things.
Show threadWesDymMar 8
@Blacksmithoz It looks like glass buildings are a major problem. But we have a pretty good idea how to mitigate that, and that could be regulated. We mostly just don't bother. We're not likely to move those buildings, though.
Show threadConny NaschMar 7
@vitskapsdama I have always suspected the fossil fuel lobbyists for this fairy tale 🤔
Show threadOGJester has movedMar 7
@connynasch It’s the fossil fuel lobby for all the fairy tails.
Tire wear from EVs!
Dead birds from wind farms!
Wind generators cause cancer!
Solar panels… are… um… ugly! Yeah! @vitskapsdama
Show threadChris HoldenriedMar 7

@vitskapsdama

Here in Toronto, we have a windmill at Exhibition place near the Lakeshore and the expressway. Hopefully it normalizes windmills for everyone that sees it.

Show threadcanleaf08✅ 加拿大葉子 🏳️‍🌈⚧️🇪🇺🍁Mar 7
@vitskapsdama People who don’t care about environment all of sudden care about birds.
Show threadSeitansbratenMar 7
@vitskapsdama Most birds are killed for humans to eat. They just don't count
Show threaddxzdbMar 7
@Seitansbraten @vitskapsdama Great point!
Show threadWesDymMar 8
@Seitansbraten I had to look this up, but USGS says "human activity" kills ~196M birds / year (1979). Hunting accounts for ~61% of that. After that, collisions with human things, at 32%. Pollution and poisoning, 2%. 'Hunting' here apparently includes farming for food, including around 81M chickens per year. (The numbers don't add up otherwise, and I'd already looked up the chicken numbers.) I presume other culinary fowl (turkey, etc.) accounts for most of the rest of that 61%.
Show threadSeitansbratenMar 8

@wesdym

https://sentientmedia.org/how-many-chickens-are-killed/

'Every year, 75 billion chickens around the world are slaughtered for meat by the poultry industry, including 9.5 billion chickens in the U.S. alone. This comes out to around 206 million chickens every 24 hours.'

And that's only the chickens.

Is Chicken Culling Really Helping Prevent Bird Flu's Spread?

The avian flu outbreak has resulted in even more dead poultry than usual.

Sentient
Show threadWesDymMar 8

@Seitansbraten This figure only reflects those "slaughtered for meat". The full number of chickens killed as a consequence of this industry is higher, due to male chicks selected out at the hatchery and other factors. The total is closer to 81M.

Or rather, it was according to a USGS report in 1979. It's got to be more than a little higher by now, 45 years later.

Show threadSeitansbratenMar 8

@wesdym Billion. And yes. Last week alone 1 Million have been killed to prevent another kind of bird flu in just one city in Germany. Not for food, just waste.

One Million lives just waste. On one day in one city.

So if people would really care for the life of birds they would #goVegan

Of course I pitty every bird killed by wind turbines. And cars. And I hope they check for birds routes before building wind turbines.

But our consume, our way of living costs many lifes. We should avoid

Show threadSeitansbratenMar 8

@wesdym those we could.

And we can easily avoid animal farms & animal exploitation by being #vegan

This not only includes corpses on our plates (and the waste thoses corpses cost additionally) but living sustainable. This includes technologies like wind turbines because mining coal also costs live & living space for the wildlife. So does palmoil etc

We should avoid all animal exploitation, suffer & death we're able to.

#goVegan

Show threadBeldarakMar 7

@vitskapsdama

Pollution kills insects, leading to more birds deaths

Show threadvery normal personMar 7
@vitskapsdama i'm not sure if 'most people' actually care that much about birds lol
Show threadWesDymMar 8
@mook I wouldn't bet money on most, but I will on many, and I take that seriously. I won't mock anyone for what they care about.
Show threadStephen J. AndersonMar 7
@vitskapsdama It’s always amused me how many people who are suddenly concerned about the impact of wind turbines on birds had no prior concerns about, say, skyscrapers, cats, habitat destruction, or urban noise limiting mating call range.
Show threadChrisMar 7
@utterfiction @vitskapsdama same sorta people who 'suddenly' care about womens' safety when a trans person needs to pee
Show threadOrion Ussner kidderMar 7
@ASprinkleofSage @utterfiction @vitskapsdama Yes! This! Same, again, as people who don't give a single dog turd about children's safety but insist everyone need to show ID just to boot up Windows. It's cynical. It's bad-faith. We need to simply call bullshit on these people.
Show threadWesDymMar 8
@OrionKidder I won't assign malice where ignorance will suffice. I think that many or most people are good at reasoning from A to B, and B to C, but not A to C. I think they mostly mean well, but don't have good solutions in mind.
Show threadOrion Ussner kidderMar 8
@wesdym If the last ten years have taught us anything, it's that ignorance is often deliberately deployed by the malicious.
Show threadOrion Ussner kidderMar 8

@wesdym And there are lots and LOTS of malicious people out there.

About 30%, turns out.

Show threadmillennial fulcrumMar 7
@vitskapsdama I wish wind turbines would kill people who weaponise misinformation. the next generation of them will hopefully perform more strongly in that success category.
Show threadMastodon MigrationMar 7

@vitskapsdama

Somewhere saw an article that painting one of the blades black significantly reduced bird deaths.

Show threadVitskapsdamaMar 7
@mastodonmigration Yeah, according to the article, it prevents the blades turning invisible for birds. The amount of bird deaths dropped by 70% and of eagles to 0. That is really amazing for such a simple tweak.
Show threadNumber6 Mar 7

@vitskapsdama

The argument is made that billions of birds are killed by cats.

Cats live with humans, in areas denuded of natural predators.

I always wonder how the number of birds killed by cats would compare to the number of birds killed by predators, if those predators had not been removed.

The birds we care about most are the endangered ones.

I think we can be pretty sure that no cat has ever brought down a golden eagle on its own.

Show threadWesDymMar 8

@number6 The claim about cats isn't false, but it's misleading because it's too vague. It's FERAL cats killing birds, not house cats. House cats can and sometimes do take birds, but their proportion is vanishingly small compared to ferals, who are much better at it and HAVE to do it, to survive.

More aggressive feral cat management (esp. through Trap - Neuter - Release) would make the most difference. Locking up house cats, probably NO noticeable difference.

Show threadOrion Ussner kidderMar 7
@vitskapsdama Just to add to the chorus, one of the great things about wind farms is that they *don't* block ground-based wild life. A lot of animals scamper through.
Show threadguysylvestreMar 7
As I’m sure that guillotine on this MAGA hat schtroumpfs will increase life expectancy for humanity.
Show threadideaPDishMar 7

@vitskapsdama

The affect terns the least.
When they pair up with sheep in the pasture below, you can see the ewe terns.

Show threadWesDymMar 8
@vitskapsdama The article contradicts itself about cats, but I think the authors just don't know better. 'Outdoor cats' really means FERAL cats. House cats allowed outside do catch an occasional bird, but most of them are very bad at it. (They may try, but usually fail.) Feral cats HAVE to do it, to survive, and are better at it. And, they've been doing it for over 10 million years -- LONG before humans came along. Also, there are well over 50 billion birds in the world.
Show threadWesDymMar 8

@vitskapsdama Put another way, while feral cats are a legitmate threat to birds, they always have been, with no help from humans. And the cats that humans can directly control -- non-ferals -- are usually pretty bad at it, and not highly motivated.

If you lock up all the housecats, you won't see these numbers budge.

Show threadSkeptikerMar 8
@vitskapsdama In fact cats shoult be forbidden
Show threadNormanDunbarMar 8
@vitskapsdama I'm pretty sure the stats show that domestic cats are the biggest killers?
Show threadVitskapsdamaMar 8
@NormanDunbar Yes, the article refers to a study about free-ranging domestic cats in the USA.
Show threadNormanDunbarMar 8
@vitskapsdama We had similar finding after a survey in the UK too.