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Where Did All The Birds Go?
The Primary: The U.S. and Canada have lost 29 percent (about 3 billion) of their birds, according to a new study published in Science.
Who? What? Why?: The "biggest driver" is "habitat loss caused by humans for agriculture and urbanization," per Axios. Richard Gregory, professor at the University of London and member of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds said, “Studies like this do suggest the potential of a systems collapse."
The Baseline: Can it be reversed? Well, the study states that prior actions to protect certain species have led to a revival. In other words, the duck hunter can become the duck saver.
From the Scientists: "The crisis for birds is a crisis for us all," say John Fitzpatrick and Peter Marra, directors of two major research institutes that conducted this study, in the New York Times. Marra and Fitzpatrick add even they were "shocked" by the results. They add: "We knew of well-documented losses among shorebirds and songbirds. But the magnitude of losses among 300 bird species was much larger than we had expected and alarmingly widespread across the continent."
Go Deeper: On Thursday, Jeff Bezos announced that Amazon will pledge to become carbon neutral by 2040 – ten years before the goal laid out in the Paris climate accord.