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from the better-go-find-me-some-more-worms dept.
Disappearance of meadows and prairies, expansion of farmlands, use of pesticide blamed for 29 percent drop since 1970.
The number of birds in the United States and Canada has dropped by an astonishing 29 percent, or almost three billion, since 1970, scientists said on Thursday, saying their findings signalled a widespread ecological crisis.
Grassland birds were the most affected, because of the disappearance of meadows and prairies and the extension of farmlands, as well as the growing use of pesticides that kill insects that affects the entire food chain.
"Birds are in crisis," Peter Marra, director of the Georgetown Environment Initiative at Georgetown University and a co-author of the study published in the journal Science, was quoted by Reuters as saying.
Forest birds and species that occur in a wider variety of habitats - known as habitat generalists - are also disappearing.
"We see the same thing happening the world over, the intensification of agriculture and land use changes are placing pressure on these bird populations," Ken Rosenberg, an ornithologist at Cornell University and principal co-author of the paper in Science told AFP news agency.
"Now, we see fields of corn and other crops right up to the horizon, everything is sanitised and mechanised, there's no room left for birds, fauna and nature."
More than 90 percent of the losses are from just 12 species including sparrows, warblers, blackbirds, and finches.
The figures mirror declines seen elsewhere, notably France, where the National Observatory of Biodiversity estimates there was a 30 percent decline in grassland birds between 1989 and 2017.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday September 23 2019, @11:19AM (3 children)
You're dropping a very important adjective from the phrase "illegal immigrants" and massively changing its meaning. Was this intentional?
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 23 2019, @02:51PM
You're an idiot, thanks for playing but youuuuu're ouuuuttaaa heeeeere.
(Score: 2) by Hartree on Monday September 23 2019, @05:43PM (1 child)
Oh, just riffing on the current political correctness status of illegal immigrant (Hasn't "politically correct" itself become politically incorrect to use?) I work at a University so am exposed to more of this nonsense than some.
I was referring to both legal and illegal. My current boss is a legal alien (British subject). And I've met a lot of excellent legal immigrants.
I've also dealt a lot with the illegals when I did refrigeration repair at restaurants. (I guess "undocumented migrants" is the current term. It'll likely be another ten years before that becomes an epithet. We keep renaming things over time as one term gets tainted. Look at the history of idiot, moron retarded, special, etc. Each were introduced as a neutral word and quickly became unacceptable. Humans are funny critters).
The upshot is that I've met few "illegals" who were lazy etc. More often I've seen them taken advantage of because of them not having a legal status where they can go to the cops or authorities when their employer does something outrageous. I've seen it where someone brings over Asians to work in restaurants and promises he'll help them get a green card. Then when that never happens he'll threaten them with turning them in if they squawk about it. Same bastard was having them stay in what was basically an open barracks in his McMansion on the west side of town and only had pay laundry facilities for them. He himself was Asian.
Lather rinse repeat with several different cases. You never have clear proof where you can report them and you'd end up hurting the wrong people anyway.
The whole legal/illegal thing is a farce on both sides of the issue as the businesses want the cheap labor and often can get the authorities to look the other way. I'd a lot rather have a documented guest worker program so that they are identified and have a legal status and can bring charges when they get ripped off (we have thugs that specifically target the Hispanic illegal immigrants here as they know they're unlikely to go to the cops.). Some get upset about wanting identification, but how would they feel about a European neo-Nazi on the run getting into the country illegally. It's all about whether they are "the good guys" or the "bad guys"
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday September 24 2019, @03:19AM
Ditto. It would completely destroy our economy to pay them minimum wage tomorrow but I'm sure we could get it squared away in a decade or two.
What I meant was you said Trump folks are anti-immigrant. The left out adjective makes the difference between that statement being dead on the money or an outright falsehood in the vast majority of cases. Hell, every legal Mexican I've talked politics with since 2016 voted for Trump. They also hate illegals more than anyone else I've ever met. Not by a little bit. By a shitload.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.