How to Heed Birds’ Warning About Climate Change
In an op-ed for the Huffington Post, David Yarnold explains how to take action to save the species we love.
We already know that climate change threatens nearly half of the bird species in North America. At the end of November, Audubon joined with BirdLife International to publish a ground-breaking report explaining how climate change could affect birds all over the world—and the news was not great. More than one-fifth of all bird species world wide might be threatened by climate change, thanks to changes in available habitat and food sources, as well as disruptions to predator-prey relationships.
In an op-ed for the Huffington Post, Audubon CEO and President David Yarnold explains how the report is motivating actions to help save these species:
The situation may be grim, but it is not hopeless. The worst effects of climate change are not quite yet locked in, and we know that birds—and people—are adaptable if given half a chance.
We need our leaders to make strong, meaningful commitments to limit climate change by dramatically reducing the air pollution that causes it.
Even if their efforts in Paris and beyond are wildly successful, it's still going to take a very wide range of activities to secure a future for birds and people alike. Audubon, and our BirdLife International partners around the world, are identifying innovative solutions.
Yarnold goes on to detail some of the specific programs and initiatives that are helping to protect birds from the looming threat of climate change, including volunteers who watch out for Piping Plovers on the beaches where they nest and then steward the beaches to protect the nests and chicks, and a large-scale initiative in Lousiana to rebuild some of the critical wetlands that are slipping into the sea.
Read the entire piece here, or take action by using the #BirdsTellUs hashtag on social media.