Scientists are sounding the alarm that water canals around the globe are responsible for animal drownings, which is harming populations.
What's happening?
While water canals are a solution for irrigation and flood protection, among other issues, researchers have observed the problems they cause for animals.
The canals are designed in a way that makes it easy for animals to fall in, but difficult to climb out. They also divide animal habitats, fragmenting the populations of species and making it harder for them to reproduce successfully.
According to Mongabay, more than 200 animals of 35 species were spotted dead in the last six months in a study by Diego Gallego-García and José Sarasola. Both researchers are from Argentina's National Council for Scientific and Technical Research and the National University of La Pampa.
Why are these deaths concerning?
While animal deaths have been decreasing over time, researchers fear that animal populations near canals have been speeding up their decline.
"We may be witnessing a defaunation [rapid extinction of wildlife] process along the canal," Gallego-García said to Mongabay. "This is very serious for the conservation of wildlife species and a problem that has so far been kept silent."
Not only could the effects of biodiversity loss ripple out into our food chains, but ecosystems run the risk of being severely damaged. We may not be able to see the immediate effects, but suffering and degradation still happen.
"It is an urgent issue," Gallego-García told Mongabay. "[Canals] are silent killing machines for wildlife, still greatly underestimated worldwide."
What's being done about water canal deaths?
Several solutions have been suggested to address these deaths. For example, bridges and other methods of crossing could help animals make their way over the canal.
But as Gallego-García pointed out to Mongabay, "They are not used by all species and are not effective solutions for preventing deaths and the fragmentation of natural habitats."
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Never 👎 Covering the canals as well as holistically redesigning future canals may be better solutions. But it is up to local and national governments to determine how this will be feasible.
While this damage is largely silent, it affects humanity and the environment as a whole. Remedying this now will prevent further destruction down the line and protect vital animal populations.
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