Birds die, Birds perish: how humans could perish for making birds to perish

As thousands of birds die from crashing against buildings

The Chicago birds, Credit, Business Standard

Recently, thousands of migratory birds crashed into the windows of the McCormick Place Lakeside Center in Chicago, leading to their death, with many more slated to die from the injuries sustained through the incident, made inevitable from a difficult weather and the reluctance of humans to install 'bird-friendly building' measures.

About 10 percent of Africa's more than 2,000 bird species, including migratory birds, suffer through hotter and drier conditions fuelled by human activities on the African-Eurasian flyway, the flight corridor of birds moving south through the Mediterranean Sea and Sahara Desert, a passage that harbors 2,600 sites for the birds.

Between 1998 and 2016, around 237 migratory birds in Singapore collided with buildings at the instance of humans, with 157 of the birds dying, as they attempted to gain entry through the East Asian-Australasian flyway around September to March, a process involving birds as far away as Siberia.

Today, migratory birds perish through human activities, from crashing into buildings, through the inability to adapt to hotter and drier conditions in their flyways, from the destruction to their habitats, with as much as 25 million birds killed every year during their regular crossing of the Mediterranean Sea, and hundreds of millions dying from colliding against buildings.

As of December 2019, about 125 buildings of at least 500 feet dot the Chicago skyline, while a city like Hong Kong harbors over 500 skyscrapers, with over 54 cities worldwide having 30 or more completed skyscrapers taller than 250 meters.

Even though the Sahara Desert contains about 9.9 trees per square hectares, rising to 30.1 in semi-arid places and 47 in the south-west rim of a patch, the trees retreat from urban expansion and the climate change induced by humans, while the desert grew by 10 percent over the past century, leading to hotter and drier conditions.

Ten thousand completed buildings stand in a highly urbanized country such as Singapore, with China having 3,122 buildings, 97 of them above 150 meters, 33 of them rising above 200 meters.

Human activities through the construction of buildings, the destruction of habitats for birds,  and the creation of hotter and drier conditions due to the human-induced climate change affect birds, and it's not surprising that approximately 1.4 percent of known bird species became extinct, two percent critically endangered, 4.1 percent endangered, 7.2 percent vulnerable, and 9.1 percent near-threatened with extinction.

In India, a decrease in the population of vultures led to an increase in rabies, increases in all-cause human mortality by four percent at 104,386 deaths, leading to mortality damages of $69.4 billion a year,  an amount a country with billions of people in population could find useful.

Globally, a fall in the population of birds means a loss of the spreading of seeds that regulates the ecosystem, with more than 70 percent of flowering plants put at a risk of extinction, if birds fail to perform this function, and the population of insects spiralling out of control, if birds stop preying on them.

Bird pollination takes place in at least 10,000 plant species, representing more than 500 genera and 68 families, so a decline in the population of birds could seriously impact on food supply, which could in turn lead to an estimated 427,000 excess deaths annually from loss in healthy food consumption and associated diseases, if just three to five percent of fruits, vegetables, and nut production get lost due to inadequate pollination.

Humans cause everything, the rising deaths of birds through collisions with buildings, the hotter and drier conditions caused by human-induced climate change, but humans could in turn suffer for accelerating the decline of birds in all continents, because the act could lead to the destruction of the human food supply, excess deaths from unhealthy food consumption, and rises in diseases such as bubonic plague, rabies and pneumonia.

For humans to escape the atrocity against birds, they must provide bird friendly buildings. They must reduce the rate of habitat destruction. And they must cut down on the emission of greenhouse gases, because this accelerates climate change, which complicates the existence of birds.

Five top wind turbine products

Wind Turbines, Credit, Vesta

As climate change intensifies, new technologies must emerge. Wind turbine technologies might be an idea for the future for creators, founders, and investors. Here are a few of them.

(1) Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine

These are the most common types of wind turbines. They possess horizontal rotor shafts, framed in different sizes, from small residential turbines to large utility-scale ones.

The Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines Market is expected to reach $56453.37 million by 2029, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of between 7.8 percent between 2023 and 2029.

(2) Vertical Axis Wind Turbines

Though they are less common than Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines, they have certain advantages in specific applications, with their vertical rotor shafts.

The global Vertical Axis Wind Turbine Market-share was valued at $5.03 billion in 2022, but it is estimated to hit $20.2 billion by 2029, with a CAGR of 43 percent during the forecast period 2023 and 2029.

(3) Off-shore Wind Turbines

Manufacturers designed them for installations in bodies of water. They are built to withstand hardy marine environments and capture strong off-shore winds.

The market for Off-shore Wind Energy is forecast to reach $42 billion by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 13.6 percent from 2020 to 2025.

(4) Small-scale Wind Turbines

Residential and small-scale commercial enterprises use this product. It provides renewable energy for homes, farms, and small businesses.

The market size was valued at $275.63 million in 2022, but it is estimated to reach $301.45 million by 2031, at a CAGR of one percent during the forecast period (2023-2031).

(5) Onshore Wind Turbines

Land-based installations make use of these tools. They come in a range of sizes, and are suitable for different locations and energy use.

The market was valued at $570340 million in 2022, and is projected to reach $2233490 million by 2029, at a CAGR of 21.5 percent during the forecast period.

What to Eat

Israeli vegan diet, Credit, The Veganary