Rachel Carson coined the term Silent Spring to refer to the slump in bird populations in the 1960s caused by pesticides. We are now experiencing a 2nd Silent Spring: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/21/europe-faces-biodiversity-oblivion-after-collapse-in-french-bird-populations A study in France showed a dramatic fall in farmland birds such as skylarks, whitethroats and ortolan bunting. A quarter of skylarks vanished in 15 years. “We are turning our farmland into a desert. We are losing everything and we need that nature, that biodiversity – the agriculture needs pollinators and the soil fauna. Without that, ultimately, we will die." So says Dr Benoit Fontaine of France’s National Museum of Natural History. This is mirrored across all of Europe. Farmland birds in 28 European countries fell by 55%.