Here are three articles all on the same topic: how climate change threatens to shift the distribution of plant and animal species.
Want independent evidence of climate warming happening now? A study published in the journal Science showed about 2000 species of animals are moving north away from the equator by 15 feet per day, or about a mile a year. They are also climbing up mountains to escape the heat, by about 4 feet a year. Both these rates are faster than those recorded earlier, in the 1990s. Temperature changes explain much of the movement. Habitat displacement threatens many species. GR
This is the New York Times’ treatment of animals’ movements toward cooler habitats. While it covers much of the same ground as our previous post, it does place more emphasis on the complexity of ecosystems, the many influences on them, and animals’ varied responses to changes in their habitats. GR
Here’s a third, extensive, report of a meta-analysis done in Britain on changes to the ranges of 1376 species of plants, animals and insects. The wildlife was moving northward and upward at faster rates than a decade ago. GR
