Nearly half of the world's waterbird species are in decline, mostly due to rapid economic development and the effects of climate change, according to a global survey released Tuesday.

The fourth Waterbird Population Estimate found that 44 percent of the 900 species globally have fallen in the past five years, while 34 percent were stable, and 17 percent rising.

"The most frequent known cause of population decrease is habitat destruction, often caused by unsustainable human activity," Delany told The Associated Press.

"The frantic pace of economic development is clearly having adverse impacts on the environment, including numbers and population trends of waterbirds," he said. "Human impacts such as urban sprawl, reclamation of wetlands, increase of pollution and hunting pressure can develop rapidly and conservation considerations are often not taken into account."

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2007/01/23/waterbirds_ani.html

[They already have the air. It's greedy of them to demand any land or water, hurting our business prospects.]