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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsPigeons in tiny backpacks are measuring air pollution in London
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/animalia/wp/2016/03/16/pigeons-in-tiny-backpacks-are-measuring-air-pollution-in-london/Air pollution caused by diesel vehicles in London is bad so bad that it is blamed for 9,500 premature deaths a year and has prompted Britains Supreme Court to order the government to make a plan for cleaning up the skies.
Now what is commonly seen as another scourge of the city, the pigeon, is helping in the fight against smog. On Monday, 10 birds outfitted in miniature backpacks carrying pollution sensors and GPS trackers took to the air, and they started tweeting via beak, perhaps, but definitely via Twitter their devices readings of nitrogen dioxide and ozone. Londoners who tweet at the Pigeon Air Patrols Twitter handle, @PigeonAir, are getting responses from the birds about air pollution in their area, and a live map of the pigeons location can be viewed online.
The patrol is, by the admission of the technology and marketing companies that created it, a publicity stunt meant to raise awareness about the citys harmful air. Birds, it should be noted, are also subject to all sorts of nefarious ailments caused by air pollution, including lung damage and low body weight.
Theres something about taking what is seen as a flying rat and reversing that into something quite positive, Pierre Duquesnoy, creative director at marketing agency DigitasLBI and the brains behind the pigeon pollution monitors, told the Guardian.
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Pigeons in tiny backpacks are measuring air pollution in London (Original Post)
WhiteTara
Mar 2016
OP
shenmue
(38,506 posts)1. Squeee!
Coventina
(27,093 posts)3. I second your squee!!
I've never understood the hatred some have for pigeons.
I think they are cute and fascinating.
AND they are incredibly smart!
Some have even been decorated war heroes!!
ScreamingMeemie
(68,918 posts)2. K&R for adorable eco-consciousness!