For some people, spring means tax time; for others it brings thoughts of Easter or Passover. For me, the best thing about spring is that it is time for the spring bird migration, the best time of the year to see certain species. It’s also a time to reflect on what a tremendous accomplishment migration is, and how fraught with peril it is for far too many birds.
While some species of birds remain in the same area year-round, most of our songbird species are “neotropical migrants”—meaning that they breed in the U.S. or Canada, but winter in the warmer climes of the Gulf Coast, or even farther into Central and South America. The month of May, when many of the birds return north, is a particularly good time to be a birdwatcher, for a couple of reasons: first, it is an opportunity to see birds that aren’t present most of the year.
Certain warbler species, for instance, breed only in New England and Canada, so many Americans only have a fleeting chance at a glimpse of these species. Also, migration routes tend to be concentrated into “flyways,” with certain spots being “hotspots” where birds reliably congregate to eat and rest up for the next leg of the journey. A good outing during migration can thus turn up a lot more birds than during the breeding season, when species and individuals tend to be more dispersed.
Birds that undertake migration face triple-whammy of threats: Not only do they need quality habitats in both their wintering and breeding ranges, but they also need to survive the trip, which can be thousands of miles in length and full of dangers along the way. Collisions with buildings kill several hundred million birds each year, and other structures, like communication towers and wind turbines, can also be deadly. Feral and free-ranging cats may kill even more songbirds than collisions do. And the evidence is mounting that climate change is playing an increasingly important role in bird declines. Sea level rise is damaging coasts and wetlands that are important feeding grounds. Increased droughts and fires are damaging forest and shrubland habitats.
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And more subtle, but perhaps even more important changes are happening as well, having to do with the timing of important food sources, particularly the emergence of insects. The average songbird may only weigh about half an ounce, and burns a tremendous amount of energy during migration and breeding, making it especially critical that their arrival at stopovers and breeding sites be timed to match food availability.
As climate change throws seasons out of whack, some of these critical timings are getting thrown off—a phenomena known as “phenologic mismatch.” Researchers in Europe have found that phenologic mismatches are an increasingly important cause of bird declines. And in the U.S., birds are actually altering their migration timing to match changing weather conditions—a good strategy, but one that puts them at risk of missing out on major insect emergences.
Get out there this spring and see some birds. While you’re at it, help them survive their migration by keeping your cat indoors, limiting the use of pesticides and other chemicals in your yard, making windows and glass doors more bird-friendly, and providing backyard habitat like sources of water, cover and food.
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"Now that we are spending more time at home, we are noticing the large number of delivery vans and lorries driving through cities," said Netherlands environment minister Stientje van Veldhoven, announcing plans to ban all but zero-emission deliveries in 14 cities.
"The agreements we are setting down will ensure that it will be a matter of course that within a few years, supermarket shelves will be stocked, waste will be collected, and packages will arrive on time, yet without any exhaust fumes and CO2 emissions," she added.
She expects 30 cities to announce zero emission urban logistics by this summer. City councils must give four years' notice before imposing bans as part of government plans for emission-free road traffic by 2050. The city bans aim to save 1 megaton of CO2 each year by 2030.
Help to Change
To encourage transport organizations to go carbon-free, the government is offering grants of more than US$5,900 to help businesses buy or lease electric vehicles. There will be additional measures to help small businesses make the change.
The Netherlands claims it is the first country in the world to give its cities the freedom to implement zero-emission zones. Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Utrecht already have "milieuzones" where some types of vehicles are banned.
Tilburg, one of the first wave of cities imposing the Dutch ban, will not allow fossil-fuelled vehicles on streets within its outer ring road and plans to roll out a network of city-wide electric vehicle charging stations before the ban comes into effect in 2025.
"Such initiatives are imperative to improve air quality. The transport of the future must be emission-free, sustainable, and clean," said Tilburg city alderman Oscar Dusschooten.
Europe Takes Action
Research by Renault shows that many other European cities are heading in the same direction as the Netherlands, starting with Low Emission Zones of which Germany's "Umweltzone" were pioneers. More than 100 communes in Italy have introduced "Zonas a traffico limitato."
Madrid's "zona de baja emisión" bans diesel vehicles built before 2006 and petrol vehicles from before 2000 from central areas of the city. Barcelona has similar restrictions and the law will require all towns of more than 50,000 inhabitants to follow suit.
Perhaps the most stringent restrictions apply in London's Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), which charges trucks and large vehicles up to US$137 a day to enter the central area if they do not comply with Euro 6 emissions standards. From October, the ULEZ is being expanded.
Cities are responsible for around 75% of CO2 emissions from global final energy use, according to the green thinktank REN21 - and much of these come from transport. Globally, transport accounts for 24% of world CO2 emissions.
The Rise of Online Shopping
Part of the reason for traffic in urban areas is the increase in delivery vehicles, as online shopping continues to grow. Retailer ecommerce sales are expected to pass $5billion in 2022, according to eMarketer.
The World Economic Forum's report The Future of the Last-Mile Ecosystem, published in January 2020, estimates that e-commerce will increase the number of delivery vehicles on the roads of the world's 100 largest cities by 36% by 2030.
If all those vehicles burn fossil fuels, the report says emissions will increase by 32%. But switching to all-electric delivery vehicles would cut emissions by 30% from current levels as well as reducing costs by 25%, the report says.
Other solutions explored in the report include introducing goods trams to handle deliveries alongside their passenger-carrying counterparts and increased use of parcel lockers to reduce the number of doorstep deliveries.
Reposted with permission from the World Economic Forum.