Study that argued China’s solar policy hurt birds may have miscounted 2 billion egrets
A study in one of the world’s top scientific journals that concluded China’s policy-driven solar energy expansion was harming bird diversity has come under fire after allegations emerged that the analysis may have used observations of 2.1 billion little egrets in a single park – more than the entire global population of the species. It also brought up heated conversations on social media about…
A study published in Science magazine concluded that China's policy-driven solar energy expansion was negatively impacting bird diversity. However, recent allegations have emerged suggesting the study may have miscounted the number of little egrets in a single park by over 2 billion, which far exceeds the species' global population.
The China Ornithological Society expressed concerns over the data quality control used in the study, pointing to logged observations of 2.1 billion little egrets and 1.3 billion red-billed blue magpies in Guangdong province. These figures are significantly higher than the actual global populations of these species. The society criticized the methodology used in the study to quantify solar policy and bird diversity, stating that the paper lacked information on data quality control.
The study's conclusions, that policy-driven solar expansion can compromise bird diversity without proper safeguards, are now under scrutiny.
Written by urgent.news from Reuters Business via SCMP's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
