Born to die: Climate change disrupting life cycles with fatal results

[cal04]

The behaviour of Britain's wildlife is raising alarm about the seriousness of climate change as animals' breeding patterns are thrown into confusion. The second mildest winter on record has resulted in mammals, reptiles, birds and insects emerging from shelter far too early.

They are getting caught out by cold snaps or wet weather and the young of many species are dying. Baby hedgehogs, baby squirrels, even baby grass snakes are being found in distress in many places.

The disturbing trend is emerging as climate change once again moves to the political centre stage. The Government's long-awaited Climate Change Bill will be published next week, the Environment minister Lord Rooker announced yesterday. Delays in the preparation of the Bill have led to questions being asked about the Government's commitment to tackling global warming.

Opposition parties fear that the Government's proposals will not be specific enough, and have pressed for annual targets in carbon dioxide reductions.

http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/wildlife/article2338372.ece

[blondie58]

1. this is so sad

i remember reading something- about a bird, I think who usually hatches about the time that the insect food that it eats emerges after winter, but it hasn't been working in the manner that it should.

And with Mother Earth, all things are connected. The repercussions could be endless.

[NMMNG]

2. This is shameful

And if we don't change our behavior soon it's only going to get worse. :-(

[kestrel91316]

3. This is how mass extinctions proceed, would be my guess.........

[Nihil]

4. My guess agrees with yours.

A century or two is "instantaneous" in the geological record.

Hell, the total time that our species has been around is only "fleeting"
when you compare it to other lifeforms on this planet.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

5. Dead zone, 8500 square miles off La coast.... nitrates, runoff,

etc, on the weather channel, generational fishermen have quit the family biz due to the cost of fuel, cannot afford to go out far enough to reach the fish....

http://www.louisianasportsman.com/details.php?id=168
A team of scientists from NOAA's National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium and Louisiana State University is forecasting that the "Dead Zone" off the coast of Louisiana and Texas this summer will be larger than the average size since 1990.

This NOAA-supported modeling effort predicts this summer's "Dead Zone" will be 6,700 square miles, an area the half the size of the state of Maryland. Since 1990, the average annual hypoxia-affected area has been approximately 4,800 square miles. The forecast is based on nitrate loads from the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers in May and incorporates the previous year's load to the system.

The "Dead Zone" is an area in the Gulf of Mexico where seasonal oxygen levels drop too low to support most life in bottom and near-bottom waters. It is caused by a seasonal change where algal growth, stimulated by input of nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus from the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers, settles and decays in the bottom waters. The decaying algae consume oxygen faster than it can be replenished from the surface, leading to decreased levels of dissolved oxygen.



http://www.louisianasportsman.com/summary_news.php

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