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Birds 'falling out of the sky' in mass die-off in south-western US

theguardian.com

21–30 of 236 posts

Re: Birds 'falling out of the sky' in mass die-off in south-western US

#21

Aren't mass dyings caused by viruses?

In this case, the most obvious explanation is the fact that they've been breathing in poisonous air (smoke) for weeks on end. Anecdotally, I've heard very little bird chirping in the past few weeks while the smoke was at its heaviest, whereas normally the birds are active all day.

Re: Birds 'falling out of the sky' in mass die-off in south-western US

#22
post #4

I've heard smoke inhalation cited as a possible cause for this, but it looks too early for a definitive explanation.

Bees are falling out of the sky here -- still alive, but helpless on their backs -- but yeah, I put it down to the smoke.

Re: Birds 'falling out of the sky' in mass die-off in south-western US

#23
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The planet may be fine; humanity's place on the planet might not be. That's typically assumed when a human comments about the planet.

It is important to remember this framing, though. So that we remember what we want, and can take the right actions to get there. We want a healthy, happy life for these X humans and to accommodate that we need Y, Z. I don't think everyone understands this, and I also think it is a key to reaching more people with the message - of why we need to make changes to the status quo.

Many people do not care remotely about the lives of others that they can't conceptualize.

I'm increasingly worried that large segments of the population will not be reached by that message or any message that isn't about direct harm to themselves or their loved ones.

Re: Birds 'falling out of the sky' in mass die-off in south-western US

#24
post #5

It feels like the earth is dying. I wonder if the human population has longer than 20 years of tolerable existence left on this planet.

Mount St. Helens (in Washington state) had a massive eruption in 1980, causing huge ecological and economic damage that lasted for years.[1]

But, the region recovered. Similar such natural events, such as Typhoon Maria, have caused massive casualties and damage. Yet, the Earth and humanity have persisted.

I wouldn't worry about anything happening to our planet and our ecosphere, short of a mass extinction event like a huge asteroid striking the Earth. The last one 65 million years ago did some pretty nasty damage, but we now have the technology to detect and divert such objects so hopefully it will not be an issue.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_eruption_of_Mount_St._Hel...

Re: Birds 'falling out of the sky' in mass die-off in south-western US

#25
post #16
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's always a comment like this. How about "The habitability of this planet is dropping like a brick."

Habitability for humans . It's more or less a self-correcting problem

Our society is so odd.

I find it astonishing that so many people can be cavalier about the deaths of millions of people when it comes to environmental destruction in a way that would be totally socially unacceptable if you were talking about targeted killings or genocide.

Re: Birds 'falling out of the sky' in mass die-off in south-western US

#26

Whose traveling back in time out there? Thought the portal was only in Germany

Seems to be one of those things just weird enough to get used in fiction regularly as shorthand for "something is really wrong" - it was part of the trailers for Jericho [0] and a plot point over the course of FlashForward [1].

[0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jericho_(2006_TV_series)

[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/FlashForward

Re: Birds 'falling out of the sky' in mass die-off in south-western US

#28

I have been told on this forum that the men and women working in wildlife conservation are in it for vanity or for self gratification. Relatedly, I have been told on this forum that there is nothing that regular folks can do about climate change. But then events like this happen, and no one reflects on how fatally pessimistic this community can be. Are we ourselves not capable of forecasting the effect of a burning s…

So much this. The events from the past years have already been difficult to digest. But every time I come and read comments, I'm even more depressed, anxious. "no matter if you don't drive, or stop meat; it won't be enough". "nice that you're stopping commuting, but that won't suffice". "offsetting by planting trees is not good enough compared to net zero". Or worse, dismissive like "it only helps with your own self-guilt".

This usually leaves me so depressed.

Yes, I realize all those actions won't suffice, even if we all agree to apply them starting tomorrow. And yes, we need both local and global impact for things to move forward. But I also believe that if everyone starts doing their part : buying less, reducing meat, whatever, it will get discussed more and more and become a concrete part of society much faster.

Guessing OP and I will get downvoted though, which is fine. HN has a fair share of the brightest minds in Tech and related, sometimes I miss a bunch of less pragmatic positivity.

Re: Birds 'falling out of the sky' in mass die-off in south-western US

#29
post #16
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's always a comment like this. How about "The habitability of this planet is dropping like a brick."

Habitability for humans . It's more or less a self-correcting problem

This is literally a conversation about a non-human species: birds. There’s habitability for humans, but we’re not separate from the ecosystem, we’re a part of it.

In some broad, abstract way of looking at things people can say, “well it’s all just star dust and will burn out in a billion years.” But we’re not just destroying our own habitat — we’re destroying countless other species. An entire web of life.

If Earth winds up a giant ocean of jellyfish, then, well - great for the jellyfish. Still a tragedy as far as I’m concerned.

Re: Birds 'falling out of the sky' in mass die-off in south-western US

#30

“Climate crisis” is starting to become the laziest explanation for why anything unusual happens in this country. Are you telling me these birds never did their migration above forest fires? Tell us why it’s different.

The way humans drive species to extinction is we push them right up to the very edge of it, removing 99% of their habitat and forage, and then we wait for a normal adverse event to finish the job. That these events happen from time to time does not absolve us.
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