Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Should we panic and revamp the economy every time some swans are a week "late"?

Climate change allegedly causes rare swans to stay in 'warm' Siberia instead of returning to UK | Mail Online
Hundreds of swans due to return to an English nature reserve for the winter are staying put in Siberia because climate change has made the region a warm haven, it emerged today.

Around 300 Bewick's Swans were expected at Slimbridge Wildfowl and Wetlands Centre on October 21, but experts say the Arctic weather is now so warm there is no need to rush back.

In other years the swans have been one or two days late in flying in from their breeding grounds, but the week-long delay is unheard of, Slimbridge revealed.
...
A Greenpeace spokesman said: 'Temperatures have risen dramatically in the Arctic with profound implications for everyone on Earth. We've already seen the ice melting up there.

'Now we've got more evidence that something very peculiar is happening. Britain has a big part to play in fighting climate change. Over the next few months the Government should block plans for new coal-fired power stations and the expansion of Heathrow airport.'
Swans delay migration to stay in warmth of Siberia - Times Online
The swans were due at Slimbridge on October 21, although they have been late before. In 1969 they did not return until November 6, and in 1981 and 1982 until November 3.
...
The British Trust for Ornithology attempted to calm twitchers’ panic and blamed the late arrival on the availability of good feeding in the Netherlands.
Snow sweeps across the UK as chilly blast sends temperatures plunging lower than Siberia | Mail Online
The chilly forecast follows the revelation that hundreds of Bewick's swans, which were due to return to an English nature reserve for the 'warmer' winter, are staying put in Siberia because it is colder in the UK.
Do swans in Siberia know the temperature of a particular location in the UK?

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