Pressure drop causing wind turbine bat deaths, say Calgary researchers
Hundreds of bats found dead each year around wind turbines have suffered internal trauma from a sudden drop in air pressure at the turbine blades, according to new research to be published this week.
CBC News
A University of Calgary research team looking for reasons behind the fatalities at the Summerview Wind Farm in Pincher Creek, Alta., said their findings, to be published Tuesday in the journal Current Biology, may finally answer the question of why bats appear particularly vulnerable to turbines.
University of Calgary graduate student Erin Baerwald said in a statement that while bats can detect turbines through their sonar-like echolocation ability, the same ability offers no protection from pressure drops.
"An atmospheric-pressure drop at wind-turbine blades is an undetectable - and potentially unforeseeable - hazard for bats, thus partially explaining the large number of bat fatalities at these specific structures," she said.
The condition, known as barotrauma, affects bats more than birds because bat lungs are balloon-like and can over-expand, bursting surrounding capillaries. Bird lungs are more rigid and tube-like and better able to withstand sudden changes in air pressure.
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