A new study estimates that more than 600,000 bats were killed by wind power turbines in 2012.
(Seong Joon Cho / Bloomberg / November 1, 2013)
31 comments:
Clyde C.
said...
I wouldn't have been surprised if 600 bats were killed, but 600000? That number is way to high for a child of my unimpressive imagination to even think of. It was also interesting to learn that bats were pollinators, I never knew that.
I definitely agree with Clyde. I wouldn't even be surprised if 6000 bats were killed, but, 600000 bats. That's too many. At the rate the bats are dying right now, I bet the bats will be endangered soon. Bats also play a role in the environment. They eat small insects and pollinate crops. The bat population is already getting endangered by white-nose syndrome, a disease that has been confirmed in 22 U.S. states and 5 Canadian provinces and affects 7 of the country's 45 known bat species, including two that are considered federally endangered so if wind power kills them, the two types of bats will be extinct. First recorded in 2006, the turbines have killed 90 to 100 percent of the bats in specific caves. Solar power doesn't even come close to killing that many living things. Wind power is going over the top. Hydro power doesn't kill even close to that many fish. Some people might think that killing bats, but others might think that it is more important for us to have energy to use. In my opinion, I think that we should definitely preserve the lives of the bats.
I was left stunned by this article. I am really surprised that wind power engines have been killing so many bats and that we haven't been able to help the decreasing bat populations a lot. I've always thought that bats are very cool and highly developed animals. When I read that bats eat a huge amount of insects and that they pollinate many crops grown in the U.S.A, I got to thinking if there are other reasons that bats help people, animals, as well as our planet Earth. I started researching and found many other reasons that bats help our environment. First, fruit bats (bats that live in the rainforest and eat fruit) can spread seeds throughout the rainforest helping new plants grow. Second, bat's poop, called guano, is the best plant fertilizer that we know of. And as they said in the article, there are many species that can eat thousands of mosquitoes and crop destroying insects in an evening. The last thing that I was thinking of is that it would of been a very good disadvantage to state against the wind power team in the energy debate. It could have made a difference to the outcome of the debate.
I really liked how this article stated the information in an interesting and informing way. It is sad how all these bats are being killed. These bats are a great support to our ecosystem, and we need them! Even worse, bats can’t reproduce as fast as other animals. The wind turbines have an impact on all of us, not only on the bats. The less bats we get, our ecosystem and our world will get terrible. Bats eat enormous amounts of flying insects and, they help pollinate crops like peaches and avocados. While the turbines impact the bats, the killing of the bats impacts the world and us! While I was reading this I wondered if wind energy has any other bad things about it. I found that the wind turbines also have been killing injuring many birds, and wind turbines can be bad for our environment and for earth. But, wind turbines aren’t the only things that are making the bat population decline, though the turbines are a huge part of the reason. The climate and diseases such as white-nose syndrome are also part of the reason. When I found out that the wind turbines can be bad for our environment, and when I read that the climate changes are also making the bat populations decrease, I figured out that the climate change could be the motive for why there are much fewer bats. If we could take away the wind turbines, that would be the solution to keeping a big amount of bats on earth! Overall, I thought this was a great article and I would rate it a 10 out of 10 because of how they explained the causes and the effects for all the situations, and the sequence they wrote everything in.
I thought that this article was very interesting because these small animals, that we don't think about that often, are being killed! 60000 bats are being killed and that has a huge impact on our environment. Bats eat small insects and help pollinate. With 600000 bats gone, at this rate, bats are soon going to become extinct! This article was in 2012, so the death of bats are probably going up and up. If the next big energy source is wind, bats, birds, and other flying animals will soon become extinct. I think that we all need to do something. We are killing innocent animals that we don't necessarily want to kill, for energy to power things that pollute the Earth. We really need to shape up and help with this huge problem. I was blown away by this amazing article, and I really want to learn more about this so I can help these poor, innocent bats.
HERE IS A LINK WHERE YOU CAN HELP BATS: http://www.batrescue.org/helpbats/
I remember in the energy debate one of the cons to having wind power was that animals were killed. I thought at the time that there were only a few animals that were killed, but this article amazed me because I thought that the maximum amount of bats killed would be around 5,000. I was wrong on that one. I find it interesting that the article specifically covered bats, are bats more likely to run into windmills more than other flying animals. Do the wind turbines mess up their echolocation? I did some research and as it turns out, about 90 percent of the bats being killed because of rapidly changing air pressure in the bats' lungs. This is called barotrauma, and this happens because the rapidly spinning blades make the air pressure in the bats' lungs rapidly change, killing them.
I was shocked at the number of deaths of the bats. I think that though not the most appealing animals, bats still play a large role on the environment. If there weren't any bats there would be so many more insects. On a site I found it said that one single bat can eat 1,200 insects per hour, and a nursing bat can eat even more. To me it is shocking how people aren't doing much about this. 600,000 bats dying in a year is way to much. The bat population is already dying from white-nose syndrome, and I don't want them to keep on dying just because humans aren't doing anything about it. Sure we need a way to have energy, but there are so many more energy sources that don't kill and harm animals. I don't think that it is right that some bat species might become extinct just because humans need wind to power there electricity. I did a little bit of research because I was interested in what JP said about it messing with there echolocation, but instead I found out that when researchers inspected the bodies of the bats near the wind turbines only 10% died from direct contact with the blade. The other 90% died from barotrauma (trauma caused by rapidly changing air pressure) in their lungs. This means that most of the bats' deaths were from the changing air pressure near the blades of the wind turbines, not the actual contact. As I kept on reading I found out that birds' anatomy of their respiratory systems helps to protect them from barotrauma-induced injuries in comparison to mammals which explains why birds aren't as prone to dying near wind turbines. I think that this is a very interesting topic that I will want to investigate more.
I was shocked when I even heard the word 600,000! I am wondering what the scientist are going to do about this. Will they shut down wind power? Maybe they could build a replica of their habitat and keep them their, so no harm is done. I also saw in the article how bats have diseases such as white nose. Scientists can try to find a cure or medicene for the bats. This way bats can help pollenate again.
I, like many other people found this article horrifying. It is terrible that the turbines are killing so many bats. At first, I was not that worried, but when I heard what they do for the ecosystem, I realized how vital these bats are to our community. I think that bats will soon be endangered because wind turbines are killing so many bats and a few species of bats have decreased 80% because of white nose syndrome. I seriously think that this is a problem for our future if the bats cannot pollenate. I think that wind turbines should either stop or find ways to stop animals from coming near the turbine. I think that wind turbines are relatively important, so I think that the second option is preferable. However, it would be hard to block bats from coming toward the turbine without blocking the wind. If we could find a certain smell that bats hate, then it may work to spray the surrounding areas of the wind turbine with that smell. I think that in science, we may be able to improve this problem if people recognize the importance of bats in our community.
I think that it is astounding how many bats these wind turbines killed. I think that scientist should remove the wind turbines from the places that generate the most kills. As they stated in the article, bats only produce about one pup per year, therefore, it is worse that we are killing them with wind turbines. If we carry on in this way, 600,000 will quickly turn into larger and larger numbers. Also, we value bees, birds, and butterflys because of the amount of plants they pollinate. Why shouldn't we value bats in the same way? One way they help is by eating mosquitoes and other pests. For example, one little brown bat can catch and eat 600 mosquitoes in one hour. Secondly, a colony of 150 brown bats can eat 18 million rootwarms each summer, helping out the farmers. Though a colony of any other bats may not produce such amazing results, they will still be able to eat many rootworms. There are even experiments taking place on vampire bats. Their saliva is thought to contain a protein that can help people with a stroke. As you can see, bats are very beneficial to our environment. I think that we should really try and protect them. Perhaps we can find a better solution, such as moving the windmills out of the bats' regular flight paths. In conclusion, I think that this is an amazing article and we should do something to fix the problem of bat deaths.
I think if wind power is getting rid of this many bats a year I do not think it is worth it. There are some pros and cons to wind power. I am not saying that we should get rid of wind power. I think we should just decrease it. Compared to other energy sources, Wind power is pretty good. Unlike coal, it is renewable and is clean. Even though is is clean it kills between 33,000 and 888,000 bats a year. Another good thing is they can be used almost anywhere, unlike solar which can only be used in sunny places. There are about 2 million bats in the world and if we keep on loosing them they will become extinct. The article also said bats also may die from diseases. So, there are two chances that bats will become extinct. I was doing some research on Wikipedia, I found out that 10,000 to 30,000 pounds of insects each night. I hate bugs so if bats became extinct, there would be a lot more bugs in the world.
After reading this article, I formulated three questions about bats, a creature I know nothing about. First, I was wondering where bats normally live. Second, from my research on wind power, I know that eagles can be hurt by wind turbines. I am curious about whether wind turbines are hazardous to any other creature besides eagles and bats. Third, I want to learn more about the white-nose syndrome that has killed many bats. I don’t know very much about that disease, so I am hoping to learn more about it.
Earlier, I posted some questions about bats, so I want to answer them. Before that, though, I wanted to point out that bat are mammals, a member of the order Chiroptera. This word is from a Greek origin, and it means, “hand-wing.”
In regard to my questions above, bats live in most places throughout the world, with the exception of the Arctic and Antarctic. Bats roost in a variety of different locations. Many bats find shelter in barns, attics, caves, or abandoned mines. These locations give them a sense of security, a place where predators are unlikely to reach them, and where they are protected from weather conditions. Other bats prefer to roost in the open, hanging or holding on to trees. Still, other bats like to sleep in hollow trees and rock crevices.
As it turns out, wind turbines aren’t the only things endangering bats. A disease known as white-nose syndrome is hurting many bats. In one year, millions of bats died due to the horrible sickness. Scientists look for many things when trying to identify if a bat is infected with white-nose syndrome. For one, scientists look for signs of erosion on the skin. Scientists can also look for white fungi on a bat’s muzzle or wing tissue. Unfortunately, this method is less reliable. One of the main things that determine weather a bat is infected is its behavior. If a bat exhibits strange behavior, such as going towards the mouth of a cave, or going on a daytime flight, it is usually a sign of white-nose syndrome. Another thing that endanger bats is its loss of habitat. Many bats have their homes in rainforests. Unfortunately, many of these rainforests are being destroyed. Rich, green rainforests used to occupy about 12% of the world, but now occupy only 2%. After reading about how many bats are being hurt by wind turbines, I wanted to find out how many other animals are being killed. It turns out that eagles and songbirds are whole affected by wind turbines. By 2030, it is said that there will probably be more than 100,000 wind turbines, which will kill, at minimum, one million birds per year. Though wind energy is, overall, a fairly good energy source, it does have some problems.
When I read this article I was amazed that things like this could go under the radar for so long. While researching for the energy debate, I found many sources that said wind turbines kill birds, but not bats. Wind power can be an important part of the solution to global warming, but if they continue being as dangerous as they currently are (1.4 million birds and 600,000 bats die through collisions with turbines) the impact on the natural ecosystem might be worse than what would happen with us just not installing the turbines. Since happenings like this fly under the radar for so long, wind farms keep expanding, which means that more and more animals are getting killed. If wind turbines keep growing at this rate, we might have many more species getting up on the endangered list. Though wind turbines is one of the biggest killers of bats, there are also diseases killing off the bats such as the white-nose syndrome. White-nose syndrome is named for a distinctive fungal growth around the muzzles and on the wings of hibernating bats. It is estimated to kill 5.7-6.7 million North American bats per year. Bats seem to be going endangered for all these different reasons, and I feel that we need to do what ever we can to protect them.
This is terrible for both the bats and our environment. I found it horiffic that 600,000 bats could be killed in one year. We are always complaining about too many bugs and dead plants, but we should be preserving bats so this doesn't happen. Again, it is amazing how many bats could be killed from just this one resource. I wouldn't be surprised if this many bats had died from diseases such as the white-nose syndrome. It is vital to the health of our environment that we save bats. These small creatures pollinate crops and eat unwanted insects. I wonder if there is a way to prevent the deaths of bats by wind turbines. Whe either need to protect bats from wind turbines or cut down on using wind power.
If anyone was wondering exactly what white nose syndrome is, here is an explanation:
It is a disease that mostly affects hibernating bats. Its name comes from white fungus found on the nose and other parts of the body.It was first found in 2006-07 in New York and has spread rapidly trough eastern United States and Canada. The fungus that causes this has been found as far west as Oklahoma.
Bats carrying this disease can exhibit unusual behavior such as flying outside of the cave in cold weather during the day and crowding near the entrance of caves. Numerous amounts of these animals have been found dying in and around caves and mines. WNS has affected over 5.7 million bats in eastern North America alone. In some places 90-100 percent of bats have been killed.
Not much is known about this fatal disease. To learn more, visit http://whitenosesyndrome.org
As astonishing as the article was, I wasn't surprised because I thought the number was much bigger so I looked up to check. According to the website I found, wind turbines only make up 3% of the U.S. energy consumption, and they kill 888,000 bats per year and another 573,000 birds per year. That's a total of 1.4 million birds and bats per year. Because of this catastrophe, bat refuges have been created to help save endangered bats.
When I read this article, I was surprised by how many bats were being killed by the spinning of the wind turbines. I thought that it would only be around 100,000 or so a year, but 600,000 really blew me away. It seems that this can pose a significant threat to the bat population. Bats are very important because at night, they are pollinating flowers and plants while the birds and bees sleep. It is known that 500 different types of plants are pollinated by the bats. This may become significant because the bee population in many parts of America has recently dropped by 50 percent.
I agree with Sarah. There are lots of other clean energy sources that are as clean as wind power, however, you would have to analyze the amount of bats being killed per year versus the population increase. Maybe there are too many or too few bats. Are any other animals that are killed due to wind power? Also, are there any species of animals that are becoming more and more scarce due to this?
I didn't even know that bats were being killed by this. And it would make sense to me if a few were killed, but 600,000 is a lot. And if wind turbines kill over 600,000 bats a year (the other site down below says that turbines kill over 880,000 a year), they must kill a lot of birds too! In fact, they kill over 573,000 birds a year. (Site: http://news.heartland.org/newspaper-article/2013/07/24/us-wind-turbines-kill-14-million-birds-and-bats-every-year.) It's crazy how much bats are being killed by these wind turbines.
Also, I didn't even know that bats pollinated peaches and avocados. That is an interesting side fact that just gives more reason to somehow prevent bats from getting killed by wind turbines.
Like everyone has been saying: 600000 bats?! That is too much! This article brings my energy back to the energy debate. If we had read this article in the debate times, it would DEFINITELY have affected how wind power was doing in the debate. I also like many others did not know that bats were pollinators! I was curious on how they helped with pollination, so I did a little research: Apparently bats help with the pollination of fruit, such as mangoes, peaches, and bananas, and almost 500 species of tropical plants are pollinated by bats! But how do they pollinate? They use their long tongues! Apparently when their tongues are not being used they are kept rolled up in their body under their ribcage. Cool! Anyway, this article was both interesting and had easy wording so it was easy for kids to read, plus I learned something from it.
By the way, here is the link I found for bat pollination info, if you want to read the whole thing:
I would like to add to my previous comment. I think that another solution to keeping bats away from wind farms is to track their migration routes and try to find a place that they often avoid.
This is definitely not good. 600000 bats is so much, that at this rate they are on the road to becoming endangered in a few years. Also, this is a real downside to wind power. As everyone else has said, people think that bats are ugly and useless while they actually are helpful. They eat flying insects, but I had no idea that they help us pollinate crops! Anyway, a downside is that bats repopulate very slowly, giving birth to one offspring a year. If the population gets to low then they will become endangered and it will be very hard to repopulate. I personally thought wind power was quite clean, other than killing a few hundred birds every year. To solve this problem, we need to move wind power generators out of the areas that seem to have the most bat casualties. Bats are now at high risk not just because of wind turbines, but their is also a disease known as white nose syndrome that hurts the bat populations (not as much as wind turbines, though). The disease is named after a white fungus that grows around the noses, ears, and wings of bats. This fungus also upsets the bat's need for water and food so in hibernation, bats with white nose syndrom will come out of hibernation dead or almost dead. A few minor diseases, like rabies or ebola, also help a bit. Bats live pretty much all over the world, with the exception of poles and some areas close to the poles, though populations are greater in some places rather than others. Once again, the most effective way to stop this problem is to move wind power farms out of places with lots of bats.
I found it weird that 600,000 bats were killed. Looking back upon our energy debate, it would have greatly helped to have had this information to use against wind power. There is no pivoting or dodging this information, and it is just downright wrong. Looking at multiple perspectives, from the sound of the article, there are also many other things that contribute to the deaths of bats, such as white nose. Also, although bats are good to the community, visit this website to find out how they are dangerous.
http://www.cdc.gov/features/bats/
Lastly, especially since I am Geothermal, I would like the amount of wind power to be cut down, just like Jai said.
JP, in response to your question, wind turbines probably do affect echolocation. The wind turbine's sound interferes with the target echoes. It can also be caused by other animals echolocating. I made an inference about the wind power affecting echolocation.
After researching about the pollination of bats, they can pollinate with their extremely long tongue. Their sharp teeth allow them to bite into fruits, so be careful. You may catch a case of rabies. After using their tongue to pollinate, it's tongue retracts into it's ribs.
I can't believe this. This is really surprising. Since there are a lot of endangered bats already, this will impact so many important things. Some animals only eat fruits so it impacts their lives too. Who would think something a unimportant to our lives as windmills, would kill that many of one species of animals.
I think that it is awful that 600,000 bats were killed in one year. What surprises me most of all is that the bats were killed because of wind mills! What the article did not say was, since this is such a big problem, why aren't people doing anything about it? Even if people are doing something about it, what? I wish that the article had gotten into this more. I also think that people are not going to pay enough attention to this problem because nobody really cares about bats. What they do not realize is that bats do so much that we do care about. This is a bad because if bats become extinct, then people will start to realize what they do. I think that people should make this more of a big deal then it is now. I definitely want to learn more about this topic. What kinds of bats are getting killed most? I wish that the article covered more details. I would give this article a 8 out of 10.
I was stunned by this article, saying that 600,00 bats is the least in America. Imagine what the most is, or even the average. I think this could lead to an extinction of an animal that many people know about. I know that bats make up about a quarter of all mammals, so for them to be even close to endagered 50 years from now would be a sad miracle. Thinking back to our energy debate, if any of the opposing teams knew about this, it would be seriously used against them. If wind turbines become more popular, this number could easily double. The worst thing, President Obam is not holding wind farms accountable for killing so many fedarally protected bats. In my opinion, Mr. President should≥
I so wish I had known this in the debate, it would have helped so much in deteriorating wind powers lead over the rest of us. However I would not have been surprised to find that it killed 80,000 bats, but 600,000 that is way over the top. I'm not much of an environmentalist, but wind power does not make enough energy to justify killing 600,000 bats. However, if wind turbines produced more energy that would be a different story. So, I did a little research on it and came up with this. One maglev turbine produces enough energy as 1000 normal turbines, and one maglev turbine only requires under 100 compared to 64,000 acres for a set of 1000 normal turbines. Also, one maglev turbine produces enough energy for 750,000 homes compared to 500,000 homes for 1000 normal turbines. Also I saw a picture of what a maglev turbine looks like, and it is not nearly as sharp, and it does not have the sharp blades of a normal turbine. So, if all the maglev turbines killed 600,000 bats it would be more justified than just all the normal turbines.
P.S. A maglev turbine is shaped like a water wheel and instead of being connected to the ground it is supported by huge magnets. As a result of this, there is less friction, and less resistance, so it is easier to turn.
Here is a link to a picture of a maglev turbin: http://www.inhabitat.com/wp-content/uploads/maglev2.jpg
I was really stunned by this article. I never knew that wind energy turbines can kill bats. Of course I knew they were deadly, but I had no idea that they can actually kill 600,000 innocent bats. It's really horrible to hear about animals dying because of these energy sources, and our environment becoming worse everyday. I personally think that wind turbines aren't good, and we shouldn't use them to create energy. Even if bats aren't the cutest, cuddliest animals, they are still important, and they actually do a lot for us humans. I agree with Rachel, I think that bats are going to become endangered, or close to extinct soon because of the amount of bats dying every year. I also think that we should really care about the environment and the animals. We should respect them and let them live a happy, healthy life instead of make them suffer and die because of the wind turbines that we humans created. Which brings up the topic, animal rights. Animals shouldn't be harassed, killed, or hurt by any humans. We should treat animals the way we want to be treated, or the way they deserve to be treated; with care and respect. I was really devastated after I read the article. I hope that we can somehow work together so that the animals can be safe and away from any harm. Like Clyde, I also never knew that bats were pollinators. That is a very interesting fact.
31 comments:
I wouldn't have been surprised if 600 bats were killed, but 600000? That number is way to high for a child of my unimpressive imagination to even think of. It was also interesting to learn that bats were pollinators, I never knew that.
I definitely agree with Clyde. I wouldn't even be surprised if 6000 bats were killed, but, 600000 bats. That's too many. At the rate the bats are dying right now, I bet the bats will be endangered soon. Bats also play a role in the environment. They eat small insects and pollinate crops. The bat population is already getting endangered by white-nose syndrome, a disease that has been confirmed in 22 U.S. states and 5 Canadian provinces and affects 7 of the country's 45 known bat species, including two that are considered federally endangered so if wind power kills them, the two types of bats will be extinct. First recorded in 2006, the turbines have killed 90 to 100 percent of the bats in specific caves. Solar power doesn't even come close to killing that many living things. Wind power is going over the top. Hydro power doesn't kill even close to that many fish. Some people might think that killing bats, but others might think that it is more important for us to have energy to use. In my opinion, I think that we should definitely preserve the lives of the bats.
I was left stunned by this article. I am really surprised that wind power engines have been killing so many bats and that we haven't been able to help the decreasing bat populations a lot. I've always thought that bats are very cool and highly developed animals. When I read that bats eat a huge amount of insects and that they pollinate many crops grown in the U.S.A, I got to thinking if there are other reasons that bats help people, animals, as well as our planet Earth. I started researching and found many other reasons that bats help our environment. First, fruit bats (bats that live in the rainforest and eat fruit) can spread seeds throughout the rainforest helping new plants grow. Second, bat's poop, called guano, is the best plant fertilizer that we know of. And as they said in the article, there are many species that can eat thousands of mosquitoes and crop destroying insects in an evening. The last thing that I was thinking of is that it would of been a very good disadvantage to state against the wind power team in the energy debate. It could have made a difference to the outcome of the debate.
I really liked how this article stated the information in an interesting and informing way. It is sad how all these bats are being killed. These bats are a great support to our ecosystem, and we need them! Even worse, bats can’t reproduce as fast as other animals. The wind turbines have an impact on all of us, not only on the bats. The less bats we get, our ecosystem and our world will get terrible. Bats eat enormous amounts of flying insects and, they help pollinate crops like peaches and avocados. While the turbines impact the bats, the killing of the bats impacts the world and us! While I was reading this I wondered if wind energy has any other bad things about it. I found that the wind turbines also have been killing injuring many birds, and wind turbines can be bad for our environment and for earth. But, wind turbines aren’t the only things that are making the bat population decline, though the turbines are a huge part of the reason. The climate and diseases such as white-nose syndrome are also part of the reason. When I found out that the wind turbines can be bad for our environment, and when I read that the climate changes are also making the bat populations decrease, I figured out that the climate change could be the motive for why there are much fewer bats. If we could take away the wind turbines, that would be the solution to keeping a big amount of bats on earth! Overall, I thought this was a great article and I would rate it a 10 out of 10 because of how they explained the causes and the effects for all the situations, and the sequence they wrote everything in.
I thought that this article was very interesting because these small animals, that we don't think about that often, are being killed! 60000 bats are being killed and that has a huge impact on our environment. Bats eat small insects and help pollinate. With 600000 bats gone, at this rate, bats are soon going to become extinct! This article was in 2012, so the death of bats are probably going up and up. If the next big energy source is wind, bats, birds, and other flying animals will soon become extinct. I think that we all need to do something. We are killing innocent animals that we don't necessarily want to kill, for energy to power things that pollute the Earth. We really need to shape up and help with this huge problem. I was blown away by this amazing article, and I really want to learn more about this so I can help these poor, innocent bats.
HERE IS A LINK WHERE YOU CAN HELP BATS:
http://www.batrescue.org/helpbats/
I remember in the energy debate one of the cons to having wind power was that animals were killed. I thought at the time that there were only a few animals that were killed, but this article amazed me because I thought that the maximum amount of bats killed would be around 5,000. I was wrong on that one. I find it interesting that the article specifically covered bats, are bats more likely to run into windmills more than other flying animals. Do the wind turbines mess up their echolocation? I did some research and as it turns out, about 90 percent of the bats being killed because of rapidly changing air pressure in the bats' lungs. This is called barotrauma, and this happens because the rapidly spinning blades make the air pressure in the bats' lungs rapidly change, killing them.
I was shocked at the number of deaths of the bats. I think that though not the most appealing animals, bats still play a large role on the environment. If there weren't any bats there would be so many more insects. On a site I found it said that one single bat can eat 1,200 insects per hour, and a nursing bat can eat even more. To me it is shocking how people aren't doing much about this. 600,000 bats dying in a year is way to much. The bat population is already dying from white-nose syndrome, and I don't want them to keep on dying just because humans aren't doing anything about it. Sure we need a way to have energy, but there are so many more energy sources that don't kill and harm animals. I don't think that it is right that some bat species might become extinct just because humans need wind to power there electricity. I did a little bit of research because I was interested in what JP said about it messing with there echolocation, but instead I found out that when researchers inspected the bodies of the bats near the wind turbines only 10% died from direct contact with the blade. The other 90% died from barotrauma (trauma caused by rapidly changing air pressure) in their lungs. This means that most of the bats' deaths were from the changing air pressure near the blades of the wind turbines, not the actual contact. As I kept on reading I found out that birds' anatomy of their respiratory systems helps to protect them from barotrauma-induced injuries in comparison to mammals which explains why birds aren't as prone to dying near wind turbines. I think that this is a very interesting topic that I will want to investigate more.
I was shocked when I even heard the word 600,000! I am wondering what the scientist are going to do about this. Will they shut down wind power? Maybe they could build a replica of their habitat and keep them their, so no harm is done. I also saw in the article how bats have diseases such as white nose. Scientists can try to find a cure or medicene for the bats. This way bats can help pollenate again.
I, like many other people found this article horrifying. It is terrible that the turbines are killing so many bats. At first, I was not that worried, but when I heard what they do for the ecosystem, I realized how vital these bats are to our community. I think that bats will soon be endangered because wind turbines are killing so many bats and a few species of bats have decreased 80% because of white nose syndrome. I seriously think that this is a problem for our future if the bats cannot pollenate. I think that wind turbines should either stop or find ways to stop animals from coming near the turbine. I think that wind turbines are relatively important, so I think that the second option is preferable. However, it would be hard to block bats from coming toward the turbine without blocking the wind. If we could find a certain smell that bats hate, then it may work to spray the surrounding areas of the wind turbine with that smell. I think that in science, we may be able to improve this problem if people recognize the importance of bats in our community.
I think that it is astounding how many bats these wind turbines killed. I think that scientist should remove the wind turbines from the places that generate the most kills. As they stated in the article, bats only produce about one pup per year, therefore, it is worse that we are killing them with wind turbines. If we carry on in this way, 600,000 will quickly turn into larger and larger numbers. Also, we value bees, birds, and butterflys because of the amount of plants they pollinate. Why shouldn't we value bats in the same way? One way they help is by eating mosquitoes and other pests. For example, one little brown bat can catch and eat 600 mosquitoes in one hour. Secondly, a colony of 150 brown bats can eat 18 million rootwarms each summer, helping out the farmers. Though a colony of any other bats may not produce such amazing results, they will still be able to eat many rootworms. There are even experiments taking place on vampire bats. Their saliva is thought to contain a protein that can help people with a stroke. As you can see, bats are very beneficial to our environment. I think that we should really try and protect them. Perhaps we can find a better solution, such as moving the windmills out of the bats' regular flight paths. In conclusion, I think that this is an amazing article and we should do something to fix the problem of bat deaths.
I think if wind power is getting rid of this many bats a year I do not think it is worth it. There are some pros and cons to wind power. I am not saying that we should get rid of wind power. I think we should just decrease it. Compared to other energy sources, Wind power is pretty good. Unlike coal, it is renewable and is clean. Even though is is clean it kills between 33,000 and 888,000 bats a year. Another good thing is they can be used almost anywhere, unlike solar which can only be used in sunny places. There are about 2 million bats in the world and if we keep on loosing them they will become extinct. The article also said bats also may die from diseases. So, there are two chances that bats will become extinct. I was doing some research on Wikipedia, I found out that 10,000 to 30,000 pounds of insects each night. I hate bugs so if bats became extinct, there would be a lot more bugs in the world.
After reading this article, I formulated three questions about bats, a creature I know nothing about. First, I was wondering where bats normally live. Second, from my research on wind power, I know that eagles can be hurt by wind turbines. I am curious about whether wind turbines are hazardous to any other creature besides eagles and bats. Third, I want to learn more about the white-nose syndrome that has killed many bats. I don’t know very much about that disease, so I am hoping to learn more about it.
Earlier, I posted some questions about bats, so I want to answer them. Before that, though, I wanted to point out that bat are mammals, a member of the order Chiroptera. This word is from a Greek origin, and it means, “hand-wing.”
In regard to my questions above, bats live in most places throughout the world, with the exception of the Arctic and Antarctic. Bats roost in a variety of different locations. Many bats find shelter in barns, attics, caves, or abandoned mines. These locations give them a sense of security, a place where predators are unlikely to reach them, and where they are protected from weather conditions. Other bats prefer to roost in the open, hanging or holding on to trees. Still, other bats like to sleep in hollow trees and rock crevices.
As it turns out, wind turbines aren’t the only things endangering bats. A disease known as white-nose syndrome is hurting many bats. In one year, millions of bats died due to the horrible sickness. Scientists look for many things when trying to identify if a bat is infected with white-nose syndrome. For one, scientists look for signs of erosion on the skin. Scientists can also look for white fungi on a bat’s muzzle or wing tissue. Unfortunately, this method is less reliable. One of the main things that determine weather a bat is infected is its behavior. If a bat exhibits strange behavior, such as going towards the mouth of a cave, or going on a daytime flight, it is usually a sign of white-nose syndrome. Another thing that endanger bats is its loss of habitat. Many bats have their homes in rainforests. Unfortunately, many of these rainforests are being destroyed. Rich, green rainforests used to occupy about 12% of the world, but now occupy only 2%. After reading about how many bats are being hurt by wind turbines, I wanted to find out how many other animals are being killed. It turns out that eagles and songbirds are whole affected by wind turbines. By 2030, it is said that there will probably be more than 100,000 wind turbines, which will kill, at minimum, one million birds per year. Though wind energy is, overall, a fairly good energy source, it does have some problems.
When I read this article I was amazed that things like this could go under the radar for so long. While researching for the energy debate, I found many sources that said wind turbines kill birds, but not bats. Wind power can be an important part of the solution to global warming, but if they continue being as dangerous as they currently are (1.4 million birds and 600,000 bats die through collisions with turbines) the impact on the natural ecosystem might be worse than what would happen with us just not installing the turbines. Since happenings like this fly under the radar for so long, wind farms keep expanding, which means that more and more animals are getting killed. If wind turbines keep growing at this rate, we might have many more species getting up on the endangered list. Though wind turbines is one of the biggest killers of bats, there are also diseases killing off the bats such as the white-nose syndrome. White-nose syndrome is named for a distinctive fungal growth around the muzzles and on the wings of hibernating bats. It is estimated to kill 5.7-6.7 million North American bats per year. Bats seem to be going endangered for all these different reasons, and I feel that we need to do what ever we can to protect them.
This is terrible for both the bats and our environment. I found it horiffic that 600,000 bats could be killed in one year. We are always complaining about too many bugs and dead plants, but we should be preserving bats so this doesn't happen. Again, it is amazing how many bats could be killed from just this one resource. I wouldn't be surprised if this many bats had died from diseases such as the white-nose syndrome. It is vital to the health of our environment that we save bats. These small creatures pollinate crops and eat unwanted insects. I wonder if there is a way to prevent the deaths of bats by wind turbines. Whe either need to protect bats from wind turbines or cut down on using wind power.
If anyone was wondering exactly what white nose syndrome is, here is an explanation:
It is a disease that mostly affects hibernating bats. Its name comes from white fungus found on the nose and other parts of the body.It was first found in 2006-07 in New York and has spread rapidly trough eastern United States and Canada. The fungus that causes this has been found as far west as Oklahoma.
Bats carrying this disease can exhibit unusual behavior such as flying outside of the cave in cold weather during the day and crowding near the entrance of caves. Numerous amounts of these animals have been found dying in and around caves and mines. WNS has affected over 5.7 million bats in eastern North America alone. In some places 90-100 percent of bats have been killed.
Not much is known about this fatal disease. To learn more, visit
http://whitenosesyndrome.org
As astonishing as the article was, I wasn't surprised because I thought the number was much bigger so I looked up to check. According to the website I found, wind turbines only make up 3% of the U.S. energy consumption, and they kill 888,000 bats per year and another 573,000 birds per year. That's a total of 1.4 million birds and bats per year. Because of this catastrophe, bat refuges have been created to help save endangered bats.
Link to website I found:
http://light-bot.com/hocflash.html
When I read this article, I was surprised by how many bats were being killed by the spinning of the wind turbines. I thought that it would only be around 100,000 or so a year, but 600,000 really blew me away. It seems that this can pose a significant threat to the bat population. Bats are very important because at night, they are pollinating flowers and plants while the birds and bees sleep. It is known that 500 different types of plants are pollinated by the bats. This may become significant because the bee population in many parts of America has recently dropped by 50 percent.
I agree with Sarah. There are lots of other clean energy sources that are as clean as wind power, however, you would have to analyze the amount of bats being killed per year versus the population increase. Maybe there are too many or too few bats. Are any other animals that are killed due to wind power? Also, are there any species of animals that are becoming more and more scarce due to this?
I didn't even know that bats were being killed by this. And it would make sense to me if a few were killed, but 600,000 is a lot. And if wind turbines kill over 600,000 bats a year (the other site down below says that turbines kill over 880,000 a year), they must kill a lot of birds too! In fact, they kill over 573,000 birds a year. (Site: http://news.heartland.org/newspaper-article/2013/07/24/us-wind-turbines-kill-14-million-birds-and-bats-every-year.) It's crazy how much bats are being killed by these wind turbines.
Also, I didn't even know that bats pollinated peaches and avocados. That is an interesting side fact that just gives more reason to somehow prevent bats from getting killed by wind turbines.
Like everyone has been saying: 600000 bats?! That is too much! This article brings my energy back to the energy debate. If we had read this article in the debate times, it would DEFINITELY have affected how wind power was doing in the debate. I also like many others did not know that bats were pollinators! I was curious on how they helped with pollination, so I did a little research: Apparently bats help with the pollination of fruit, such as mangoes, peaches, and bananas, and almost 500 species of tropical plants are pollinated by bats! But how do they pollinate? They use their long tongues! Apparently when their tongues are not being used they are kept rolled up in their body under their ribcage. Cool!
Anyway, this article was both interesting and had easy wording so it was easy for kids to read, plus I learned something from it.
By the way, here is the link I found for bat pollination info, if you want to read the whole thing:
http://www.batworlds.com/bat-role-in-pollination/
I would like to add to my previous comment. I think that another solution to keeping bats away from wind farms is to track their migration routes and try to find a place that they often avoid.
This is definitely not good. 600000 bats is so much, that at this rate they are on the road to becoming endangered in a few years. Also, this is a real downside to wind power. As everyone else has said, people think that bats are ugly and useless while they actually are helpful. They eat flying insects, but I had no idea that they help us pollinate crops! Anyway, a downside is that bats repopulate very slowly, giving birth to one offspring a year. If the population gets to low then they will become endangered and it will be very hard to repopulate. I personally thought wind power was quite clean, other than killing a few hundred birds every year. To solve this problem, we need to move wind power generators out of the areas that seem to have the most bat casualties. Bats are now at high risk not just because of wind turbines, but their is also a disease known as white nose syndrome that hurts the bat populations (not as much as wind turbines, though). The disease is named after a white fungus that grows around the noses, ears, and wings of bats. This fungus also upsets the bat's need for water and food so in hibernation, bats with white nose syndrom will come out of hibernation dead or almost dead. A few minor diseases, like rabies or ebola, also help a bit. Bats live pretty much all over the world, with the exception of poles and some areas close to the poles, though populations are greater in some places rather than others. Once again, the most effective way to stop this problem is to move wind power farms out of places with lots of bats.
I found it weird that 600,000 bats were killed. Looking back upon our energy debate, it would have greatly helped to have had this information to use against wind power. There is no pivoting or dodging this information, and it is just downright wrong. Looking at multiple perspectives, from the sound of the article, there are also many other things that contribute to the deaths of bats, such as white nose.
Also, although bats are good to the community, visit this website to find out how they are dangerous.
http://www.cdc.gov/features/bats/
Lastly, especially since I am Geothermal, I would like the amount of wind power to be cut down, just like Jai said.
JP, in response to your question, wind turbines probably do affect echolocation. The wind turbine's sound interferes with the target echoes. It can also be caused by other animals echolocating. I made an inference about the wind power affecting echolocation.
Adding on to my comment:
After researching about the pollination of bats, they can pollinate with their extremely long tongue. Their sharp teeth allow them to bite into fruits, so be careful. You may catch a case of rabies. After using their tongue to pollinate, it's tongue retracts into it's ribs.
I can't believe this. This is really surprising. Since there are a lot of endangered bats already, this will impact so many important things. Some animals only eat fruits so it impacts their lives too. Who would think something a unimportant to our lives as windmills, would kill that many of one species of animals.
I think that it is awful that 600,000 bats were killed in one year. What surprises me most of all is that the bats were killed because of wind mills! What the article did not say was, since this is such a big problem, why aren't people doing anything about it? Even if people are doing something about it, what? I wish that the article had gotten into this more. I also think that people are not going to pay enough attention to this problem because nobody really cares about bats. What they do not realize is that bats do so much that we do care about. This is a bad because if bats become extinct, then people will start to realize what they do. I think that people should make this more of a big deal then it is now. I definitely want to learn more about this topic. What kinds of bats are getting killed most? I wish that the article covered more details. I would give this article a 8 out of 10.
I was stunned by this article, saying that 600,00 bats is the least in America. Imagine what the most is, or even the average. I think this could lead to an extinction of an animal that many people know about. I know that bats make up about a quarter of all mammals, so for them to be even close to endagered 50 years from now would be a sad miracle. Thinking back to our energy debate, if any of the opposing teams knew about this, it would be seriously used against them. If wind turbines become more popular, this number could easily double. The worst thing, President Obam is not holding wind farms accountable for killing so many fedarally protected bats. In my opinion, Mr. President should≥
I so wish I had known this in the debate, it would have helped so much in deteriorating wind powers lead over the rest of us. However I would not have been surprised to find that it killed 80,000 bats, but 600,000 that is way over the top. I'm not much of an environmentalist, but wind power does not make enough energy to justify killing 600,000 bats. However, if wind turbines produced more energy that would be a different story. So, I did a little research on it and came up with this. One maglev turbine produces enough energy as 1000 normal turbines, and one maglev turbine only requires under 100 compared to 64,000 acres for a set of 1000 normal turbines. Also, one maglev turbine produces enough energy for 750,000 homes compared to 500,000 homes for 1000 normal turbines. Also I saw a picture of what a maglev turbine looks like, and it is not nearly as sharp, and it does not have the sharp blades of a normal turbine. So, if all the maglev turbines killed 600,000 bats it would be more justified than just all the normal turbines.
P.S.
A maglev turbine is shaped like a water wheel and instead of being connected to the ground it is supported by huge magnets. As a result of this, there is less friction, and less resistance, so it is easier to turn.
Here is a link to a picture of a maglev turbin: http://www.inhabitat.com/wp-content/uploads/maglev2.jpg
I was really stunned by this article. I never knew that wind energy turbines can kill bats. Of course I knew they were deadly, but I had no idea that they can actually kill 600,000 innocent bats. It's really horrible to hear about animals dying because of these energy sources, and our environment becoming worse everyday. I personally think that wind turbines aren't good, and we shouldn't use them to create energy. Even if bats aren't the cutest, cuddliest animals, they are still important, and they actually do a lot for us humans. I agree with Rachel, I think that bats are going to become endangered, or close to extinct soon because of the amount of bats dying every year. I also think that we should really care about the environment and the animals. We should respect them and let them live a happy, healthy life instead of make them suffer and die because of the wind turbines that we humans created. Which brings up the topic, animal rights. Animals shouldn't be harassed, killed, or hurt by any humans. We should treat animals the way we want to be treated, or the way they deserve to be treated; with care and respect. I was really devastated after I read the article. I hope that we can somehow work together so that the animals can be safe and away from any harm. Like Clyde, I also never knew that bats were pollinators. That is a very interesting fact.
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