An early spring in the Arctic: global warming threatens
Spring has dawned upon the Arctic significantly earlier than it did just a decade ago, yet more evidence that we are in the grip of global warming and no amount of procrastinating is going to make the problem disappear. According to scientists, rising temperatures in the Arctic region are leading to the melting of snow much sooner than in years gone by, increasing the summer months and radically disturbing the fragile eco-system.
With heat waves, sea levels rising, glaciers melting and Arctic and Antarctic warming becoming ever more prevalent, we can look forward to a future of endemic diseases, early springs, shifting plant and animal ranges, population changes, the bleaching of coral reefs and flooding and droughts, to name but a few.
The change in seasons was discovered by researchers who observed similar patterns for spring over 10 years. The records were taken between 1996 and 2005 and found that species vary significantly in their capacity to adapt to climate change, but on average their patterns of behaviour were moved forward by a couple of weeks.
Recent studies have shown spring occurring 5.1 days earlier each decade for animals and plants worldwide and 2.5 days earlier per decade for European plants.
Species respond at different rates to global warming and whilst some adapt quite well, others do not, which means that nature may be become unbalanced. For instance, flying insects may materialise later than the birds that prey on them and the flowers that need them for pollination. Additionally, as the Arctic warms up and becomes more habitable, species from warmer areas in the south may move further north, causing clashes with native species.
[via The Guardian]
http://www.hippyshopper.com/2007/06/an_early_spring.html
Posted by: donkim | June 25, 2007 2:43 AM