Linowes learned early on that, in many countries, wind turbines pose the single greatest threat to bats after habitat loss and white-nose syndrome. “The wind industry is well aware of the problem yet vigorously resists even modest mitigations known to reduce bat mortality at operating wind facilities,” she said. “The result is that many of our bat species are on a path to extinction. Even five years ago they were abundant in large numbers, particularly the hoary bat, but they’ve declined heavily.”
