For the birds: Can humans turn empathy into solutions?

Imagine being out in nature. Maybe you’re in a forest, or your backyard. The sun is shining and a light breeze blows through the trees. Perhaps a squirrel runs by. A hawk or gull soars overhead. Songbirds dart from tree to tree.

Now, remove a quarter of the birds. What changed?

That scenario isn’t a stretch of the imagination. That’s exactly what’s happened in the United States and Canada since 1970, according to a study published today in the journal Science. In just 48 years, bird populations have declined by 29%. That’s nearly 3 billion birds. 

This is not the only staggering statistic