Birds Are Dying!

“The number of birds in Germany and Europe has dropped significantly over the past 30 years… In Germany, one-third of all bird species have seen ‘significant population declines’ since the end of the 1990s… Birds in agricultural areas are particularly threatened, with 300 million pairs of breeding birds living around farmland across the European Union disappearing between 1980 and 2010. That’s a decrease of 57 percent” (Deutsche Welle, May 4, 2017). North America has also seen major drops in bird populations, especially in agricultural areas (Globe and Mail, September 14, 2016). Most of this drop (in both North America and Europe) is associated with conversion of natural habitat to farmland, and a significant drop in insect populations due to insecticides and fertilizers (ibid.). “Loss of habitat to urban sprawl, farming and forestry is arguably an even bigger driver of long-term decline in bird populations... Because of migration south, that is an international problem” (ibid.).

The Bible has long foretold that, due to man’s destructive actions and the violation of the laws of God, “the land will mourn; and everyone who dwells there will waste away with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air; even the fish of the sea will be taken away” (Hosea 4:1-4). However, the Bible also reveals that when Jesus Christ returns, He will make a new covenant that will allow even birds and animals to thrive once again (Hosea 2:18). To learn more about this exciting future, read or listen to The World Ahead: What Will It Be Like?