Johannesburg - In the future, green firework displays could see spectacles that involve no loud bangs, just whizzing drones and laser light shows that are friendly to wildlife and pets. This was part of a suggestion by scientists after their research showed the serious global impact that fireworks are having on wildlife and the environment.
The researchers, in a study published by the journal Pacific Conservation Biology, reviewed the ecological effects of firework displays across the globe. They looked at Diwali festivities in India, Fourth of July displays in the US, and events in New Zealand and in Europe.
The environmental toll they found included fireworks in Spanish festivals that impacted the breeding success of House Sparrows.
Fourth of July pyrotechnic displays were linked to the decline of Brandt’s Cormorant colonies in California, while sea lions on the coast of Chile changed their breeding season behaviour because of New Year’s Day fireworks.
“Fireworks create short-term noise and light disturbances that cause distress in domestic animals that may be managed before or after a firework event, but the impacts to wildlife can be on a much larger scale,” said Associate Professor Bill Bateman, of Curtin University in Australia, who led the study.
“The annual timing of some large-scale firework events coincides with the migratory or reproductive movements of wildlife, and may therefore have adverse long-term population effects on them. Fireworks also produce significant pulses of highly pollutant materials that also contribute significantly to the chemical pollution of soil, water, and air, which has implications for human as well as animal health.”
He suggested that fireworks should be banned during wildlife migration or breed periods. Also, that drones and other light based technology like lasers be used during shows instead.
Like much of the world, South Africa too has a fireworks addiction habit that animal rights organisations are finding hard to kick.
Every year pets are traumatised by the flashes and bangs of often illegally bought fireworks. Humans are affected too, with trauma wards seeing numbers of casualties with injuries caused by fireworks.
Every festive season there are raids by metro police on premises that sell illegal fireworks, although it hasn’t stopped the problem.
“There is growing evidence that these community events can be managed in a sustainable way and it’s clear that out-dated firework displays need to be replaced by cleaner options that are not harmful to wildlife and the environment,” said Bateman.