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A third of North America’s birds have vanished

nautil.us

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Re: A third of North America’s birds have vanished

#281

Post by arcticbull »

bmitc wrote: post #114
23B1 wrote: post #35

One thing I dislike the most about these problems – and the information/media/activism around them – is the "solutioning". Yes, we should recycle and reduce carbon emissions and learn to live in a more integrated fashion with earth. But the problem is so diffuse and requires substantive work against powerful forces (government, business, apathy). What I'd like to see more of, when presented with these sorts of proble…

Individuals cannot solve this. I leave trees up, dead or alive. I plant native plants. I remove invasive species. I only keep invasive bushes if they house birds. I don't spray for insects except around the base of my house, I don't kill off chipmunks, voles, squirrels, rabbits, etc. How can this compete with the dozens of neighbors in a half-mile radius that have removed in excess of hundreds of trees, big ones like…

I think it might have something to do with feral and outdoor cats killing 1.4-3.7 billion birds per year in the US alone. [1] Individuals can do something here I wager, between education and taking responsibility by spaying and neutering.

It’s pretty wild to me that cats aren’t mentioned at all in this article since they’re absolutely massacring wild birds. They’re the leading cause of both bird and small mammal deaths in the US. They kill 10% of all US birds every year.

I do agree personal responsibility isn’t enough but it can certainly help.

[edit] in fact a cursory google shows the population of cats in the US is almost a perfect mirror of the bird population graph in the article since 1970.

[1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/outdo...

Re: A third of North America’s birds have vanished

#282

Post by emodendroket »

tnias23 wrote: post #132

Like almost every other goddamn problem we face, the solution is boring as hell: campaign finance reform. If politicians actually represented their constituents, they would be able to effect the policy changes required. But they don’t, because campaign finance is broken, allowing the richest, most blood-sucking elements of society to have the biggest influence. If you have the opportunity to vote for someone who beli…

I don't think it's actually that simple. Let's imagine money's out of the picture. How many people are eager to keep their homes at 78 degrees? That's just one tiny example of many but I think in your heart of hearts you know that many people will resist every small step tooth and nail. On this very forum I've seen people muse about starting a civil war because California put certain efficiency standards on computer power supplies.

Re: A third of North America’s birds have vanished

#283

Post by kshmir »

bmitc wrote: post #114
23B1 wrote: post #35

One thing I dislike the most about these problems – and the information/media/activism around them – is the "solutioning". Yes, we should recycle and reduce carbon emissions and learn to live in a more integrated fashion with earth. But the problem is so diffuse and requires substantive work against powerful forces (government, business, apathy). What I'd like to see more of, when presented with these sorts of proble…

Individuals cannot solve this. I leave trees up, dead or alive. I plant native plants. I remove invasive species. I only keep invasive bushes if they house birds. I don't spray for insects except around the base of my house, I don't kill off chipmunks, voles, squirrels, rabbits, etc. How can this compete with the dozens of neighbors in a half-mile radius that have removed in excess of hundreds of trees, big ones like…

[flagged]

Re: A third of North America’s birds have vanished

#284

Post by deadbolt »

tacocataco wrote: post #243
tnias23 wrote: post #132

Like almost every other goddamn problem we face, the solution is boring as hell: campaign finance reform. If politicians actually represented their constituents, they would be able to effect the policy changes required. But they don’t, because campaign finance is broken, allowing the richest, most blood-sucking elements of society to have the biggest influence. If you have the opportunity to vote for someone who beli…

Could we add electoral reform to the list? We need to introduce competition in our political system. People deserve the right to vote for who best represents them, while still counting their vote if that candidate doesn't win. The First Past the Post electoral system most states use will always result in a two party system. Since the electoral process is run at the state level, we can pass electoral reform one state…

How do you expect electoral reform to happen, when the people elected were elected because of the current electoral system?

Meaningful electoral reform via the current electoral system is a wish.

Re: A third of North America’s birds have vanished

#285

Post by DontchaKnowit »

adrianN wrote: post #258
flagrant_taco wrote: post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The planet will bounce back one way or another, short of a global nuclear war I don't see how we can do more damage than the asteroid that took out the dinausaurs. Humans just may not be here to enjoy it if we can't get out of the way and stop consuming natural resources for the sake Of GDP growth.

Humans are the only chance Terran life has of surviving the death of the sun.

are you so sure? there are intelligent species other than humans. Perhaps they are simply human-like species in their nascent evolutionary state.

Re: A third of North America’s birds have vanished

#286

Post by dragonwriter »

deadbolt wrote: post #284
tacocataco wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could we add electoral reform to the list? We need to introduce competition in our political system. People deserve the right to vote for who best represents them, while still counting their vote if that candidate doesn't win. The First Past the Post electoral system most states use will always result in a two party system. Since the electoral process is run at the state level, we can pass electoral reform one state…

How do you expect electoral reform to happen, when the people elected were elected because of the current electoral system? Meaningful electoral reform via the current electoral system is a wish.

> How do you expect electoral reform to happen, when the people elected were elected because of the current electoral system?

I expect it to happen first at the state level, in states where the people have reserved the power to alter the State Constitution and laws to themselves without requiring the involvement of elected officials in other than ministerial roles.

Re: A third of North America’s birds have vanished

#287

Post by debaserab2 »

23B1 wrote: post #35

One thing I dislike the most about these problems – and the information/media/activism around them – is the "solutioning". Yes, we should recycle and reduce carbon emissions and learn to live in a more integrated fashion with earth. But the problem is so diffuse and requires substantive work against powerful forces (government, business, apathy). What I'd like to see more of, when presented with these sorts of proble…

Recently bought a house with a beautiful backyard on a pond. I put a couple bird feeders up because I noticed a cardinal male and female occasionally hanging out on the lawn. Now my yard looks like a bird sanctuary! I love it.

My next step for a new age take on an old man hobby is to get some cameras hooked up to an NVR that can do object detection and point them right at the bird feeders so I can get a stream of recent visitors.

Re: A third of North America’s birds have vanished

#288

Post by hanniabu »

leeoniya wrote: post #5

climate change is always framed in terms of how many coastal people it will affect when sea levels rise a few meters. the canadian wildfires going on now. the only thing i hear about it in the media is how bad the air quality will be in this or that city, or how many oil/gas/logging jobs will be lost. the amount wildlife that is being displaced or burned alive? fuck it! did you hear that 10k humans had to be evacuate…

And next at 11, hear how cher chooses her outfits followed by sports

Re: A third of North America’s birds have vanished

#289

Post by 1over137 »

eastbound wrote: post #259
jjallen wrote: post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah when 99% of people don't care about this sort of issue or are unaware of it and keep cutting trees down it doesn't matter if a few people are doing all they can. I go home to my parents' neighborhood in Florida and more and more of the trees are disappearing in a 100-year-old neighborhood. It's not even new houses being built. These are 50-year old houses. There is 1 house in the entire neighborhood (has to be a…

I suspect it’s common that my city (France) requires 1 thick-trunk tree per ~80 square meter (9m x 9m). Also there is a ratio of concrete-vs-earth of 10% (posh neighborhoods), 15% or 20%, and parking spots per living surface. My yard is 30x50m => 1500sqm => 1275sqm must be kept as earth, I must have 18 trees (thick-trunk) (and 2 parking spots and the street must have 0.5 guest parking spot).

Wait, you have tree requirements, but you also have mandatory car parking requirements!?

Re: A third of North America’s birds have vanished

#290

Post by trash3 »

23B1 wrote: post #35

One thing I dislike the most about these problems – and the information/media/activism around them – is the "solutioning". Yes, we should recycle and reduce carbon emissions and learn to live in a more integrated fashion with earth. But the problem is so diffuse and requires substantive work against powerful forces (government, business, apathy). What I'd like to see more of, when presented with these sorts of proble…

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