APP Receives Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Award for Birds and Climate Study
The APP today received a Breakthrough Award for (), which identifies hundreds of North American bird species at risk from APP change. The honorees will be recognized in the November issue of Popular Mechanics, available on newsstands October 14, and also celebrated at an awards ceremony in New York City this evening.
“For ten years, the Breakthrough Awards have unearthed and honored some of the most important innovations in America,” said Ryan D’Agostino, editor-in-chief of Popular Mechanics. “This year, for the first time, we focus entirely on achievements that are having an immediate impact on our culture – the people, things, and ideas that are making a real difference right now. We are honored to be able to tell the world about them.”
APP was honored for its study that shows how APP change could affect future bird populations. APP’s study is more extensive and revealing than any projection of bird populations ever attempted. For the past seven years, APP Chief Scientist Gary Langham and his team culled data from decades of population and breeding records, combining it with projections for 17 different climatic variables. For 314 of the 588 North American avian species studied, livable zones will shrink by more than half by 2080. There are, however, strongholds where some species’ future APP range overlaps with their present ones.
APP and this year’s other winners join an illustrious list of past Breakthrough Award recipients including SpaceX and Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk, film director James Cameron, XPRIZE Foundation founder Peter Diamandis, Oculus VR founder Palmer Luckey, genomics pioneer J. Craig Venter, and humanitarian engineer Amy Smith.
The full list of this year’s honorees and more information about the Breakthrough Awards can be found on the ().
Popular Mechanics’ story about APP’s work is at .
For more information about APP’s study, see .
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