They're pretty deadly, and it's not collisions that kill them. It's the pressure differential caused by them. It's too hard on their lungs and makes them rupture. It's less deadly to birds in that way, their respiratory system tends to be sturdier.
"The hoary bat population could decline by as much as 90% in the next 50 years if the initial population size is near 2.5 million bats and annual population growth rate is similar to rates estimated for other bat species (λ = 1.01)" Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S00063...
In Hawaii, there is a subspecies of the Hoary bat that is endangered and primarily threatened by wind turbines. There are also studies happening out there on wind turbines (I applied to work for the study like a year ago, I don't think BCI will be publishing anything any time soon). https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/wildlife/files/2018/07/Bat-White-Pap... https://www.nrgsystems.com/news-media/nrg-systems-announces-...
RE this study - I believe this is part of the work being done by Dr. Sara Weaver at Texas State. I don't know that she's published much on it yet, it's been very hush-hush because of the huge implications it could have if successful. The NRG tech being used is mentioned in the Texas State article below. https://psmag.com/environment/jamming-echolocation-could-hel... https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sara_Weaver4 https://news.txstate.edu/research-and-innovation/2018/bat-de...
That being said, wind energy is like... maybe #2 or #3 threat to bats right now. The biggest one being a disease called white-nose syndrome that is absolutely devastating hibernating bats.
USFS website on WNS: https://www.whitenosesyndrome.org/
A third major danger to bats is human persecution. People either are scared of bats, or hunt them for food. In places like Australia, bats are sometimes seen as a nuisance where the congregate in large numbers and poop. Bat Conservation International has a lot of articles and social media messages talking about how bats are threatened http://www.batcon.org/why-bats/bats-are/bats-are-threatened
But, apparently, sensitivity to pollutants is unrelated to sensitivity to pressure.
Biology is fascinating.
Can you point out the new hydro plants that we can build?
As a California resident, I'm happy that the state isn't spending extra to buy nuclear.
It's fascinating how you're accusing others to be emotional instead of rational, while answering a post providing data for one specific question regarding wind power with an unspecific rant.
Also, any complex project will be subject to politics. That is just reality. If you want to defeat climate change (a political objective) you have to put forward projects that will be approved by government.
1) what to do with the waste that has to be kept safe for thousands of years, war-, theft- and natural-disaster-proof? Recycling or breeding can be done but nowhere near the volume that is required. For early attempts at long term storage we have problems getting the waste out of there.
2) how to operate nuclear power in a capitalist society safely? Operators will always have the incentive to cut corners and bypass regulations for profit, leading to security issues and accidents. Hell even communism has failed there, e.g. in Chernobyl or that lake (?) where they dumped their old submarines.
3) how to make a reactor disaster-proof? This includes geology (earthquakes like in Japan), water, fire, terrorism, operator negligence, ...
Nuclear plants are usually located with abundant water for cooling and contamination is more of a concern than evaporation.
Me I think we're in the harm reduction phase of industrial civilization. Nothing we do isn't going to have some negative impact.
>Are birds having similar issues?
>Will it help them too?
To find out, tune in tomorrow.
Same bat time.
Same bat channel.
The Audubon Society, a group that most assuredly has more experience with all things birds are certainly more credible than a random google image search in terms of the impact of turbines on birds.
https://www.audubon.org/news/will-wind-turbines-ever-be-safe...