US wind turbines linked to an estimated 18.7 million bat deaths from 1981 to 2024

Researchers modeled wind-farm reports to estimate 18.7 million bat deaths among 10 species at US turbines from 1981 through 2024, New Scientist reports. Its annual estimates appear to have exceeded 1.5 million from 2021 onward. Science says a separate European analysis found that avoiding turbine operation when bats are likely to fly can reduce fatalities by more than 80%. The US study cannot establish whether the deaths caused population declines.