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“White Nose Syndrome” In Bats Stalls Wind Farm
redgreenandblue.org — US Fish and Wildlife has asked the developers of three wind farms in New York to postpone their proposed projects so they can study the mysterious fungus killing tens of thousands of bats throughout the northeast.
tbhurst- 242 diggs
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- tbhurst, on 06/09/2008, -1/+17Wind energy kicks up some internal tensions within the environmental movement again.
- MarkusGarvey, on 06/09/2008, -0/+8i'll bet it has more to due with the chemicals that large scale farms use on their crops, or GMO's or both....the biggest danger a wind turbine is to bats is if they run into the spinning blades...
- tbhurst, on 06/09/2008, -0/+5I couldn't agree with you more about the potential causes of the white nose syndrome being some sort of chemical products. Wind farms have shown to produce some danger to bats, but it is my impression these losses have, thus far, been mitigated.
Relatedly, I've actually seen night-scope video of bats chasing the turbine blades (and sometimes "catching them" too!).- screwzluse, on 06/09/2008, -0/+5I demand a video after a comment like that. You're reply intrigues me.
- borez, on 06/09/2008, -0/+6Bats have exceptional ultrasonic hearing, I'm sure they no exactly were those blades are.
- borez, on 06/09/2008, -0/+3Yes I know I spelled 'know' wrongly
- tbhurst, on 06/09/2008, -0/+5I couldn't agree with you more about the potential causes of the white nose syndrome being some sort of chemical products. Wind farms have shown to produce some danger to bats, but it is my impression these losses have, thus far, been mitigated.
- Greenpointer, on 06/09/2008, -0/+0Nice one! I've got some audio clips from the Windpower 2008 Exhibition I recorded last week from Houston: http://greenairradio.com/?p=264
- MarkusGarvey, on 06/09/2008, -0/+8i'll bet it has more to due with the chemicals that large scale farms use on their crops, or GMO's or both....the biggest danger a wind turbine is to bats is if they run into the spinning blades...
- kelleydfp, on 06/09/2008, -1/+8CA is known for a lot of bats.
- airencracken, on 06/09/2008, -1/+17These bats need to stop doing Cocaine.
- tbk123, on 06/09/2008, -0/+12I love bats! I hate epidemics.
- BlueSkyfish, on 06/09/2008, -2/+8And what does the fungus have to do with wind farms again?
- thebaron2, on 06/09/2008, -1/+2Read the ***** articles, people:
"Although it is not clear what effect turbines have on bats, developers must be prepared for at least a few bat collision deaths. And with bat populations falling at such unprecedented rates, biologists fear that those few bat collission (sic) deaths could have a much more substantial impact than previously calculated. In other words, what once seemed “incidental,” may now be rather significant."
- thebaron2, on 06/09/2008, -1/+2Read the ***** articles, people:
- TommyGuns, on 06/09/2008, -3/+3The wind farms propagate the fungus through the air, and no bats mean a lot more mosquitoes and those little buggers suck! More bats = less mosquitoes, I have two bat houses on both of my places, works quite well in the warmer months!
- thebaron2, on 06/09/2008, -0/+1Who said anything about fungus propagation? The article certainly didn't.
They're worried that the expected bat deaths from turbine collision will have a much larger impact on populations than originally thought. Since tons of bats are dying, losing a few hundred (or whatever the estimate was) is a lot more important than if the population was healthy.
FTA:
Although it is not clear what effect turbines have on bats, developers must be prepared for at least a few bat collision deaths. And with bat populations falling at such unprecedented rates, biologists fear that those few bat collission deaths could have a much more substantial impact than previously calculated. In other words, what once seemed “incidental,” may now be rather significant.
- thebaron2, on 06/09/2008, -0/+1Who said anything about fungus propagation? The article certainly didn't.
- SeaweedWater, on 06/09/2008, -2/+2I love epidemics! I hate bats.
- cheerio, on 06/09/2008, -3/+7I fail to see the correlation on how a wind generator that operate on WIND(as in it's not a fan as someone else suggested) can propagate anything.
FTA: "Although it is not clear what effect turbines have on bats..."
Translation: We don't know anything right now, so don't do anything just in case that something that doesn't exist yet is causing it. Yay! Take that tree huggers!
Big Oil did it!
/s- thebaron2, on 06/09/2008, -0/+2If you would have read the rest of the sentence that you quoted you'd know exactly why postponing turbine construction has been proposed.
They aren't blaming the turbines - they're saying that what was once considered acceptable collateral damage (X bats dying from turbine collision each year) may be much more significant now that the populations are being decimated by this fungus.- cheerio, on 06/09/2008, -0/+2Touche
*face palm*
- cheerio, on 06/09/2008, -0/+2Touche
- thebaron2, on 06/09/2008, -0/+2If you would have read the rest of the sentence that you quoted you'd know exactly why postponing turbine construction has been proposed.
- x5pfif, on 06/09/2008, -1/+4I thought the White Nose Syndrome was when Bush did too much coke in his college years?
- Junkyardjim, on 06/09/2008, -0/+5i saw a special on this on the daily planet the other it made me sad because the scientists would enter a cave and there would be thousands of dead bats, still hanging and everything, and they have no clue how its happening. I hope that the wind farm people will fall in line with the requests handed to them.
Here in sault ste. marie Ontario we have the largest windfarm in Canada, it's really cool to go out there at night(or any time) cause its not blocked off and you can get right underneith the big things, you just have to pull of some colin mcrea style rally car driving to get up the dirt road.- yubpro, on 06/09/2008, -0/+1Do you know what episode this was? I want to watch it very badly.
- reisrocks, on 06/09/2008, -1/+2I don't get it. What's the link between wind farms and dying bats?
From what I understood, the bat population is dying rapidly because they came out of hybernation far too early.. and a very small percentage is getting killed by collision with wind generator blades..
But now making such a strong link between both is just beyond me.. a bit like asking people to stop farting to help curb global warming.
Moreover.. as a wild guess.. maybe the bats are coming out of hybernation too early because of changes in the climate? In which case delaying projects like windfarms seems counter productive. - RickS2, on 06/09/2008, -0/+2I woke up with a bat on my arm once.
- tbhurst, on 06/09/2008, -0/+2That would freak the s__t out of me!
- Ninh, on 06/09/2008, -0/+2US Fish and Wildlife has asked all major US airlines to stop their flights so they can study the ruffled feather syndrome in chicken all over the nation.
- HuskyPuzzle, on 06/09/2008, -0/+6Tough situation when RENEWABLE energy efforts are killing off an important species...
- hlund05, on 06/09/2008, -0/+4I hate to see new wind energy be delayed or postponed...this is a real Catch 22.
- alapoet, on 06/09/2008, -0/+4Wow -- talk about the Law of Unintended Consequences!
I hope they are able to find a solution that's good for everyone -- the wind farmers and the endangered bats AND the environment. - allaboutdatiki, on 06/10/2008, -0/+1first the bees and now the bats, figure the birds in there somewhere ... (west nile virus, anyone) ...
screw it ... WE'RE ALL GUNNA DIE! :O Buy up all the duct tape and plastic sheeting you can and run for the hills ... - abhilash, on 06/10/2008, -0/+1We all had white nose syndrome in the 80's.
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