Maddie Burakoff

1 month ago | audubon.org | Maddie Burakoff

Ayana Elizabeth Johnson believes humans can restore and protect nature while staring down a planetary crisis. She’s convinced we can limit warming, prevent climate disasters, transform our culture, and find a way to have abundant and healthy life on Earth. But don’t call her an optimist. “Hope can be a very passive emotion,” says Johnson, a marine biologist, policy expert, and writer. “I think it’s insufficient.

2 months ago | audubon.org | Maddie Burakoff

Whether they hop around the prairie, dabble in wetlands, flit through forests, or forage along the shore, birds are suffering rapid population declines across the United States. That’s the finding from the latest State of the Birds report, a status check on the country’s avian life published every few years by a coalition of science and conservation groups, including Audubon. The 2025 report shows that birds across most habitats have suffered major losses since 1970.

2 months ago | audubon.org | Maddie Burakoff

South Pelican Island belongs to the birds. Royal Terns circle and screech above this spit of sand and shrub, which juts out of North Carolina’s winding Cape Fear River. Grackles hop among the bushes as sandpipers dart along the water. And as the name of the island suggests, Brown Pelicans abound. On a gleaming August morning, people have ventured into this avian realm to set up a temporary health clinic along the shore.

2 months ago | audubon.org | Maddie Burakoff

Key points: Since late 2024, the avian influenza virus H5N1 has been spreading rapidly through wild bird populations, possibly spurred by fall migration. Waterfowl and seabirds have been hit hard, though infections in songbirds remain uncommon. Experts say feeders don't pose a major risk, but you should clean them regularly and track guidance from local and state wildlife authorities. __________Wild birds are facing a dangerous moment for avian influenza.

2 months ago | stltoday.com | Maddie Burakoff

NEW YORK — Confidence in the scientific community declined among U.S. adults in 2022, a major survey shows, driven by a partisan divide in views of both science and medicine that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, 39% of U.S. adults said they had “a great deal of confidence” in the scientific community, down from 48% in 2018 and 2021.