Wednesday, February 27, 2019
The reality of climate change for our wildlife
It has been a lovely week so far, with temperatures far higher than usual for February. In fact the UK is experiencing the highest winter temperatures since records began over a hundred years ago. A temperature of 21.2C was recorded at Kew Gardens in London on Tuesday, beating the 20.6C measured at Trawsgoed, near Aberystwyth the day before.
As the Independent reports, the soaring temperatures have been described as “an extreme weather event” by the Met Office and come at the end of a particularly mild winter. The previous record was 19.7 and that has stood since 1998.
The paper adds that while February is now “within striking distance” of becoming the warmest February since records began, December was also two degrees warmer than average overall, with high temperatures early in the month reaching over 15C. They say that 27 councils across the country have declared a “climate emergency” in an effort to force authorities to act against climate change.
None of this is normal. It is part of the changes that we have instituted in our climate by damaging the ozone layer and using up the planet's resources at a faster rate than they can be replenished, and it has consequences, both for our continued occupation of the planet, food and water supplies and the impact on biodiversity.
The Independent says that the effects of the unseasonably warm weather are felt particularly keenly at this time of year by hibernating animals, who may emerge earlier and find there is not enough food to sustain them, and that the weather may turn cold again:
“It is mammals who will suffer worst,” Ben Keywood, an entomologist at Sheffield & Rotherham Wildlife Trust told The Independent. “If hedgehogs have started coming out over the last two weeks or so, they are going struggle to find a lot of the food they would normally eat as a lot of it is not out yet. So then [when the temperature falls] they may not have had enough to eat when they go back into hibernation and will have used up more of their fat reserves, which can make them significantly weaker.
“Frogs could also start to spawn, and that wouldn’t normally happen until March or April, if they spawn and then there is a frost, then it could kill all the spawn, which would be disastrous.”
The concern, he said, was that if climate change makes this a more regular occurrence and this keeps happening “then it could start having very severe effects on species because it can weaken them and change their behavioural patterns”.
He added: “Lots of species time their emergence - particularly birds - so it coincides with the food they need is at its most plentiful,” he said. “So if that starts early then they are out of sync with their food source. It could help species such as owls and birds of prey, as [species like dormice and harvest mice] will be more visible, and could be weaker.”
“It’s all about upsetting the balance - none of this is normal. While nature can and will adapt to seasonal fluctuations, it does send things off kilter and can be dangerous if it keeps happening.”
We have to be careful of course not to conflate specific weather events with climate change. However, there is wide recognition extreme weather becomes more likely as the baseline for average temperatures has risen:
Dr John Shonk, a scientist at Reading University’s meteorology department, said climate change means the likelihood of hot extremes is increasing.
He told The Independent: “Climate is all about long-term trends, you can’t necessarily attribute one extremely warm event to climate change, because weather changes week to week. Around about this time last year we were suffering from the effects of the Beast from the East when it was really cold. To attribute a single weather event to climate change - you can’t really do that.
“But then again the climate is warming, and when it comes to extremes, you are looking at how the likelihood of those extremes might change. Yesterday we had the first winter temperature past 20C in the UK and that’s the first time that’s happened. In the future climate, as the system warms, there’s an increasing chance we will see that more.”
Bob Ward of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at LSE sums it up:
“While warmer winters might seem pleasant for many people, it is worth remembering that this is the result of a climate change trend that is also making heatwaves and heavy rainfall more frequent, as well as coastal flooding due to sea level rise. Last summer was the hottest on record in England and, according to the Office for National Statistics, the heatwave conditions were linked to hundreds of additional deaths across the UK.”
It may actually be too late to reverse these trends, but we have to try. Our future and the future of the planet depends on it.
As the Independent reports, the soaring temperatures have been described as “an extreme weather event” by the Met Office and come at the end of a particularly mild winter. The previous record was 19.7 and that has stood since 1998.
The paper adds that while February is now “within striking distance” of becoming the warmest February since records began, December was also two degrees warmer than average overall, with high temperatures early in the month reaching over 15C. They say that 27 councils across the country have declared a “climate emergency” in an effort to force authorities to act against climate change.
None of this is normal. It is part of the changes that we have instituted in our climate by damaging the ozone layer and using up the planet's resources at a faster rate than they can be replenished, and it has consequences, both for our continued occupation of the planet, food and water supplies and the impact on biodiversity.
The Independent says that the effects of the unseasonably warm weather are felt particularly keenly at this time of year by hibernating animals, who may emerge earlier and find there is not enough food to sustain them, and that the weather may turn cold again:
“It is mammals who will suffer worst,” Ben Keywood, an entomologist at Sheffield & Rotherham Wildlife Trust told The Independent. “If hedgehogs have started coming out over the last two weeks or so, they are going struggle to find a lot of the food they would normally eat as a lot of it is not out yet. So then [when the temperature falls] they may not have had enough to eat when they go back into hibernation and will have used up more of their fat reserves, which can make them significantly weaker.
“Frogs could also start to spawn, and that wouldn’t normally happen until March or April, if they spawn and then there is a frost, then it could kill all the spawn, which would be disastrous.”
The concern, he said, was that if climate change makes this a more regular occurrence and this keeps happening “then it could start having very severe effects on species because it can weaken them and change their behavioural patterns”.
He added: “Lots of species time their emergence - particularly birds - so it coincides with the food they need is at its most plentiful,” he said. “So if that starts early then they are out of sync with their food source. It could help species such as owls and birds of prey, as [species like dormice and harvest mice] will be more visible, and could be weaker.”
“It’s all about upsetting the balance - none of this is normal. While nature can and will adapt to seasonal fluctuations, it does send things off kilter and can be dangerous if it keeps happening.”
We have to be careful of course not to conflate specific weather events with climate change. However, there is wide recognition extreme weather becomes more likely as the baseline for average temperatures has risen:
Dr John Shonk, a scientist at Reading University’s meteorology department, said climate change means the likelihood of hot extremes is increasing.
He told The Independent: “Climate is all about long-term trends, you can’t necessarily attribute one extremely warm event to climate change, because weather changes week to week. Around about this time last year we were suffering from the effects of the Beast from the East when it was really cold. To attribute a single weather event to climate change - you can’t really do that.
“But then again the climate is warming, and when it comes to extremes, you are looking at how the likelihood of those extremes might change. Yesterday we had the first winter temperature past 20C in the UK and that’s the first time that’s happened. In the future climate, as the system warms, there’s an increasing chance we will see that more.”
Bob Ward of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at LSE sums it up:
“While warmer winters might seem pleasant for many people, it is worth remembering that this is the result of a climate change trend that is also making heatwaves and heavy rainfall more frequent, as well as coastal flooding due to sea level rise. Last summer was the hottest on record in England and, according to the Office for National Statistics, the heatwave conditions were linked to hundreds of additional deaths across the UK.”
It may actually be too late to reverse these trends, but we have to try. Our future and the future of the planet depends on it.
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I can agree with this article. We hear reports of a decline in insects and the like,worms included .Species that tend the ground that produces soil for planting They are at the bottom of the food chain. As is mentioned the problems effect mammals , giving birth to live young, THAT is the human race at the top of the food chain. It is time we considered the planet for if we do not we could go the way of species no longer with us.
Another malign effect of these milder winters is that invasive pest species are able to survive. Midges, ticks and beetles together with the fungi and bacteria they carry come to mind.
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