More than 1 billion birds die each year after crashing into buildings, study finds
CBSN
Buildings are one of the top bird killers in the United States, with more than a billion birds dying after a building crash each year. About 60% of birds brought to wildlife rehabilitators or emergency rooms for animals die while in care of the facility either by succumbing to their injuries or euthanasia, according to a new study released in the Public Library of Science Journal on Wednesday.
There has been a widespread bird population decline in North America over the past half-century. The North American bird population is down by nearly 3 billion birds since 1970 according to a Cornell Lab study, making addressing hazards to bird ecosystems more urgent.
The injured birds are often brought to wildlife rehabilitation centers with head trauma and concussions. The bigger the bird, the more likely it was that it would recover and be released back into the wild. The rehabilitation centers examined in the study found that they received the greatest number of bird patients in the fall with the least number of admissions in the winter.
More employees of the Environmental Protection Agency were informed Wednesday that their jobs appear in doubt. Senior leadership at the EPA held an all-staff meeting to tell individuals that President Trump's executive order, "Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing," which was responsible for the closure of the agency's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion office, will likely lead to the shuttering of the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights as well.
In her first hours as attorney general, Pam Bondi issued a broad slate of directives that included a Justice Department review of the prosecutions of President Trump, a reorientation of department work to focus on harsher punishments, actions punishing so-called "sanctuary" cities and an end to diversity initiatives at the department.
The quick-fire volley of tariffs between the U.S. and China in recent days has heightened global fears of a new trade war between the world's two largest economies. Yet while experts think the battle is likely to escalate, they also say the early skirmishes offer hope for an agreement on trade and other key issues that could head off a larger conflict.