As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Friday 26 September 2014

To help birds weather climate change, stop eating them

BY PAULA MOORE

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals September 19, 2014 

A sobering report released earlier this month by the National Audubon Society warns that half of all bird species in the U.S. and Canada could be on the brink of extinction if we don't take steps to mitigate climate change. As warming temperatures alter birds' habitats and migratory routes, some 300 species of birds in North America - from bald eagles to Baltimore orioles - will be forced to find new places to live, feed and breed. Those who can't could become extinct.

Here's one thing that everyone can do today to help our free-roaming feathered friends: stop eating their cousins - farmed chickens - and other animals. A staggering 51 percent or more of global greenhouse-gas emissions is caused by animal agriculture, according to a report published by the Worldwatch Institute. The fastest, most effective way to combat climate change is with diet change - by going vegan.

We have no time to waste. In the same week that the Audubon Society released its report, the United Nations' meteorological advisory body announced that the amount of heat-trapping carbon dioxide in the atmosphere had reached a new high in 2013 - just under 400 parts per million.

That's the threshold that "climate scientists have identified as the beginning of the danger zone," Princeton University geosciences professor Michael Oppenheimer told The Washington Post. "It means we're probably getting to the point where we're looking at the 'safe zone' in the rearview mirror, even as we're stepping on the gas."

Read more here: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2014/09/19/3865799/to-help-birds-weather-climate.html#storylink=cpy

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