Wildlife and wind energy

Wildlife and Wind Energy Wildlife and Wind Energy Human beings have been focusing on tapping clean energy from other nonconventional sources such as the wind and the sun. In line with this, wind energy has been identified as an important source of energy for humanity as it is clean and does not harm the environment when compared to other sources of energy such as energy from fossils that contribute to the devastating effects of climate change. Hence, nations have invested in tapping energy from the wind and wind farms have become a common feature with nations seeking to secure the run-away effects of fossil fuels on the climate especially with the recent threat of carbon energy on global warming. Despite the renewed efforts to harness energy from the wind, there are various implications of wind turbines on the wildlife although there are mitigation measures that could minimize impacts to the wildlife.
In a study conducted by Sovacool (2009), which focused on the effects of wind turbines on birds that are a form of wildlife, the findings indicated that wind turbines were responsible for the death of between 20, 000 and over 500, 000 birds every year in the United States. This indicates that wind turbines have an effect on the wildlife as birds collide with turbines leading to their death. In this case, it is evident that turbines are responsible for a big number of the death of birds.
There has been contention on whether the effects of vibrations from wind turbines have an effect on the health of the wildlife. In this case, there is suggestion that the vibrations from wind turbines could affect wildlife and cause sickness. On the other hand, other researchers have indicated that wind turbines do not cause any illness on wildlife although the turbines are responsible for creating noise and causing vibrations. The noise and vibrations from wind turbines causes stress among animals and the stress raises the risks of wildlife to various changes within its body due to hormonal imbalance from the stress caused by wind turbines.
It is important to carry out routine environmental assessments in wind farms in order to establish their effects on wildlife and on humans. This assessment helps to mitigate any negative impact of wind farms on the wildlife and humans since the assessment identifies the potential impacts of the turbines on the environment. The Wildlife Society (2007) identifies the importance of modifying the operations and locations of turbines with a view of ensuring that the wind turbines minimized their impacts on the wildlife and the habitants of their existence.
In conclusion, this article elucidates that wind turbines have an impact on the wildlife. In this case, wind turbines are evidently responsible for the death of a big number of birds with some of these birds being some of the endangered species of the world. On the other hand, there are studies that suggest that the noise and vibrations generated by wind turbines causes stress to wildlife in a similar manner and fashion to wildlife. Stress interferes with the balancing of hormones and this could lead to changes in the functioning of the body of animals, in their habitats. Therefore, it is always important to engage in routine evaluation assessments that highlight the impact of wind turbines on wildlife in order to implement mitigation measures that prevent the impact of wind turbines on wildlife.
References
Sovacool, B. K. (2009). Contextualizing Avian Mortality: A Preliminary Appraisal of Bird and
Bat Fatalities from Wind, Fossil-Fuel, and Nuclear Electricity. Energy Policy, 37(6), 2241-2248.
The Wildlife Society. (2007). Impacts of Wind Energy Facilities on Wildlife and Wildlife
Habitat. Retrieved from http://wildlife. org/documents/technical-reviews/docs/Wind07-2. pdf