Global Warming

Climate change plays havoc on hibernating animals

Hibernation is generally used to survive brutal environments, a lack of food, or both. Some respond to environmental factors like temperature, sunshine or hunger.

If animals are unable to store enough food as fat – for example, if there’s a drought and there isn’t vegetation when they expect vegetation – they won’t be able to make those fat pads and they won’t be able to survive the winter.

Ground squirrels can hibernate up to nine and a half months a year. They use snow as a cue to determine when to exit hibernation. There’s been more late-season snow around the squirrel’s small territory in recent years, which means more time hibernating and less time to store enough fat to survive their dormant state. On the other hand, the warming climate means parts of the West are expected to receive far less snow in the future though, which Allison said could signal ground squirrels to wake up sooner. And that means more time trying to escape predators.

Global Warming makes UK plants flower a month earlier

Global Warming is already having a major impact across the world and in yet another signal for humanity to act, plants in UK have burst into flowering about a month earlier. A research has said that this has profound consequences for crops and wildlife. The research has used nature observations going back to the 1700s

Trees, herbs and other flowering plants have shifted seasonal rhythms as temperatures have increased, according to the study led by the University of Cambridge. Insects and birds have evolved to synchronise their own development stages with the plants they rely on. When they are no longer in phase, the result is an “ecological mismatch”.

IN the result, many species may simply collapse if they are unable to adapt quickly enough to the new normal brought about by the warming climate.

from WordPress https://ift.tt/V6bQTPZJX