Thursday, August 18, 2011

AP: "Animals across the world are fleeing global warming by heading north much faster than they were less than a decade ago, a new study says"

Critters moving away from global warming faster | Long Island Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Animals across the world are fleeing global warming by heading north much faster than they were less than a decade ago, a new study says.

About 2,000 species examined are moving away from the equator at an average rate of more than 15 feet per day, about a mile per year, according to new research published Thursday in the journal Science which analyzed previous studies. Species are also moving up mountains to escape the heat, but more slowly, averaging about 4 feet a year.

The species – mostly from the Northern Hemisphere and including plants – moved in fits and starts, but over several decades it averages to about 8 inches an hour away from the equator.

“The speed is an important issue,” said study main author Chris Thomas of the University of York. “It is faster than we thought.”
...
“It’s already affected the entire planet’s wildlife,” Thomas said in a phone interview. “It’s not a matter that might happen in the lifetime of our children and our grandchildren. If you look in your garden you can see the effects of climate change already.”

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

of course the animals are all up on the latest 'scientific' developments aren't they

gofer said...

Of course, it's much cooler from 4-15 feet away. They are scraping the bottom of the barrel.

Brian G Valentine said...

New peer-reviewed studies show that global warming researchers are ten times more likely than the average population to be criminal extortionists, grafters, liars, crack addicts, alcoholics, and homeless.

David Cooke said...

That might be true of animals in the southern hemisphere, as many countries down here have been having a colder-than-usual winter.

Luboš Motl said...

"Animals across the world are fleeing global warming by heading north..."

That might be a pretty unfortunate ideas for the animals in Australia, Latin America, or South Hemisphere in general. ;-)

They probably saw a fast bird returning from the tropics somewhere in Europe and concluded that this has to be general: all animals in the world have to travel to the North faster than they thought possible.

Athlete said...

Animals always seem to have a sixth sense on what is going on with Mother Earth. Maybe they sense that the alien attack is going to start at the equator.