Archive for the ‘myths explored’ Category

Flight Club: Birds vs. Buildings

Posted by Daisy Simmons on

EcoMyth: Migrating Birds Know to Fly Around City Buildings

The average bird can cruise between three-inch openings in dense woodlands at upwards of 20-30 mph. So they should have no problem maneuvering their way around giant urban buildings, right? The answer is…not so much.

Experts say that between 100 million and 1 billion birds die each year in North America due to building collisions alone. Surprisingly, this figure doesn’t include bird kills associated with wind turbines or communication towers, both of which cause drastically fewer deaths by comparison*. And with Chicago being a hotspot for migrant songbirds, our tall buildings make us an especially treacherous fly zone.

So why can’t the usually savvy flyers get around these giant concrete blocks? We went to a few experts for the answer: Doug Stotz, PhD, conservation ecologist at the Field Museum, Annette Prince, president of Chicago Bird Collision Monitors (CBCM), and Caleb Gordon, PhD, an avian ecologist with Normandeau Environmental Consulting.

According to their research, the whole bird versus building dilemma goes a little something like this… (more…)

Chicago River: Mission Accomplished?

Posted by Daisy Simmons on

EcoMyth: Disinfection Will Make the Chicago River Clean

It looks like we can cross mission impossible (aka, Chicago River disinfection approval) off the list…so can we all go home now?

First, for those of you who managed to miss the major buzz on the river this past year, here’s the quick rundown: Sewage effluent makes up about 70 percent of the river water [PDF]. That’s not good. And despite several area organizations having advocated for years that we needed to disinfect said eau de toilet, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD) wasn’t budging—until the head honchos over at the EPA said enough is enough.

The EPA highlighted area waterways that needed upgraded standards in green.

The MWRD came on board shortly thereafter, and they’re set to begin disinfection—by the 2016 recreational season—at two of three plants that currently aren’t doing it. Shazam. Meanwhile, disinfection at the third one, Stickney, is under review (it’s more complicated since it’s widely considered the largest wastewater treatment facility in the world).

Since that news broke, a lot of people are wondering whether our work here is done. (more…)