Baaad News: Global Warming Shrinks Sheep

WASHINGTON — Like the wool sweater that emerges from the dryer a size too small, global warming seems to be shrinking sheep.

On average, wild Soay sheep on Scotland's island Hirta are 5 percent smaller today than they were in 1985, according to a team of researchers led by Tim Coulson of Imperial College London.

"The decrease in body size was due to a reduction in growth rates caused, in part, by the changing climate," Coulson said in an interview via e-mail.

Evolution favors the development of large sheep, which can more easily survive harsh winters, Coulson explained. So the researchers became curious about the overall decline in size of the animals on Hirta.

They discovered that as the climate has grown milder, small lambs that would not have survived previous winters were now living to grow up and reproduce.

Since size is inherited, the survival and reproduction of these smaller animals lowered the average size of the herd.

In addition, Coulson noted, there is what he termed the "young mum effect," with the younger mothers physically unable to produce large offspring.

The find adds to the understanding of how change occurs in many types of animals, he said, including birds, fish and mammals.

It shows how evolution and ecology each play a role in change, Coulson said: "And that, for our wild sheep at least, climate change is having a detectable effect on body size _ a trait that is partly determined by genes _ and that this compliments previous research showing how climate change can influence population size."

"This study addresses one of the major goals of population biology, namely to untangle the ways in which evolutionary and environmental changes influence a species' traits," said Andrew Sugden, deputy and international managing editor at Science, which published the report.

The research was supported by Britain's Natural Environment Research Council.

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On the Net:

Science: http://www.sciencemag.org

Comments

[noneIn2008]

It has been cooling for the last 10 years. No wonder they are shrinking.

[jotunloki]

No it has not. Show us some supportable statistics supporting that claim. NO? You can't because it is not true.

[instagladiator]

Why don't you do a little research on that. You'll be surprised (if you can keep an open mind that is).

[dennisrs]

Some interesting info here with photos too

http://www.iceagenow.com/Growing_Antarctic_Ice_Sheet.htm

[Richard2]

The University of Alabama at Huntsville has reported its global temperature for the month June, 2009. The temperature is .7 degrees C below the peak montly temperature during the peak year of 1998. The UAH figures come from satellite data, not poorly sited and maintained ground stations.

[realpolitic]

Where do you guys get so much misinformation?

[instagladiator]

Label it what you will denier. It's called researching.

[Sensiblebg]

LOL I love the snarky comments about this rediculous claims! Haha!

[SantaFeConservative]

Some smaller sheep but a whole lot more sheep ... so GW is good for food production.

[LeftVetPatriot]

How many times have I told you!? Wash Wool in COLD WATER!

[WindySailor]

And don't put it in the dryer.

[laucarlson]

This contradicts most understanding that people/animals in harsher climates are shorter than those in equatorial climates. Body heat is much more efficient in a compact package. This seems like a conclusion that could be reached if one were looking at the effect of global dimming (less UV) rather than global "warming."

[HHHarry]

Indeed. Look at all those miniature polar bears, moose, reindeer and walrus.

[dennisrs]

You forgot about whales -that water is very very cold.

[vwoom]

"...global warming seems to be shrinking sheep."

Now that's the real source of all the world's greenhouse gases...(i­nversely proportional to "deflated" sheep)

"De-flatulated" sheep

[coolfireone]

The conclusion of this study fails a sanity test. Ludicrous is too mild a word. There is much more to say about such conclusions, but this one isn't worth the effort.

[JanBjernfalk]

OK, I get it. So, if we continue cooling off for a few more years, we'll have sheep the size of cows.

That would be baaaaaaaad.

[jotunloki]

If you were accidentally decephalated no one could tell the difference.