Will Climate Change End Bird Migration?

The Independent:

At a recent high-level congress attended by 200 migration experts, leading Spanish ornithologist Miguel Ferrer estimated that 20 billion birds have changed their migrating habits in the last few decades. The biggest single identifiable reason behind such a massive behavioural shift, involving 70 per cent of the world's migrating birds is -- surprise, surprise -- climate change
.

Read the whole story: The Independent

Comments

[foolonthehill]

04:13 AM on 04/29/2010

I have been a serious birder for 47 years, and had a career in conservation. This is perhaps the stupidest and most simplistic article on this topic I have ever seen.

Can't be bothered to go into any details other than to say that anytime anybody says "birds will or won't do x" they do not have a clue about the diversity of birds or, apparently the diversity of anything. There are about 700 species north of Mexico in North America alone, and different geographical populations and each one is adapted, and is adapting, to its own niche and habitat. On top of that they are not programmed robots, and the ones that migrate respond annually to different weather patterns.

Birds have been around since dinosaurs. Indeed, the latest thinking is that they are the surviving dinosaurs. There are fossil sandhill cranes 60 million years old that look like cranes today. They have survived huge variations in climate... by adapting. That is what they are doing now.

But I guess some people imagine that nature is static and change is doomsday. And it seems that climate change articles are full of such simpleton thinking.

[SFTor]

12:58 PM on 04/25/2010

It is rather obvious that climate change will not put an end to bird migrations.

Through the last few million years birds have established migration patterns, and have probably adjusted them for swings in the climate. Sometimes they have left a few days earlier, sometimes a few days later.

I would love to see where the 20 billion (about 5–10% of the world bird population) figure comes from.

It is not very alarming to see a few storks remain in Spanish cities. As the cities have grown, so has the capacity to house a few more birds over the winter.

[susankhbelen]

09:41 AM on 04/21/2010

The birds are changing their arrival dates BUT the bugs that provide them food for their spring nesting are NOT and that is providing a food shortfall.

Global warming deniers are usually religious people who think the earth was formed 3-4K ago. I.e. People walked the earth with dinosaurs. They think that homosexual behavior is a sin rather than biological. They also don't believe that God was serious when God gave people free will....umm; only free will when their current religion deems it to be to their liking and NEVER free will to a pregnant woman.

Climate change understanding is a complicated to the deniers. If they believe this science they may have to think about other science and their private religious oriented schools actually reprimanded them for any kind of analytical thinking.

[OneVoiceInACrowd]

10:03 AM on 04/21/2010

interesting point regarding the denial of science and of free will.

[macmooski]

01:13 PM on 04/23/2010

That's a crock...YOU obviously never went to a private school....my guess is you're an atheist...no, wait, agnostic...has a nicer ring....
What if its the cell towers...all those microwaves messing with their brains.....? oooh, a science based theory....bet you thought you were the only one thinking!

[realpolitic]

01:45 PM on 04/20/2010

Are climate change deniers making their usual denials?

[TQQ]

03:48 PM on 04/20/2010

Are warmers repeating their "I will believe, I will believe" mantra again?

[realpolitic]

04:49 PM on 04/20/2010

Is science something you believe in or not? Only deniers look at it in that way. If you tap your toes will science go away.

[KIVPossum]

03:47 AM on 04/20/2010

I fully accept there IS Global Warming. I readily accept there are a number of Major problem we see today, and that the problems will multiply unless we do something NOW.

Yet, I think the Green Community does itself a disservice when it tried to equate everything to GW.

[rblackbird]

08:34 PM on 04/19/2010

I am a proud global-warming denier. One of many reasons why is the proclivity of warmists to blame anthropomorphic global warming for almost every problem we face. Yesterday on this site, agw was announced as a likely cause of volcano eruptions; today, as the cause of the end of bird migration and of bad allergies. To get a better view of this dimwittedness, visit http://www.numberwatch.co.uk/warmlist.htm which lists 760 problems allegedly caused by global warming. The one I found most fascinating is the study which claims that indigestion caused by agw is threatening the survival of monkeys and gorillas. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/01/100111-global-warming-indigestion-monkeys-gorillas/

[TQQ]

10:17 PM on 04/19/2010

Belief in global warming is silly.

[SneathLane]

09:51 PM on 04/20/2010

After Ben Franklin invented the lightning rod, people who misunderstood how it worked started putting little "lightning rods" on umbrellas and hats.

The fact that some people misunderstand a real thing, and do bizarre things with it, does not mean that the real thing is not real.

The fact that the average global temperature is going up has been verified and re-verified with many different methods. Yes, the average global temperature is rising.

This will remain true even if some idiots claim that global warming causes volcanos or rickets or excessive bungee jumping.

[rblackbird]

01:00 AM on 04/21/2010

Except, Sneath, the average global temperature is not going up, but is rather going down. Here is an April 15, 2010 report from the National Center for Atmospheric Research:

"Until 2003, the measured heat increase was consistent with computer model expectations. But a new set of ocean monitors since then has shown a steady decrease in the rate of oceanic heating, even as the satellite-measured imbalance between incoming and outgoing energy continues to grow." http://www2.ucar.edu/news/missing-heat-may-affect-future-climate-change [The "monitors" are ARGO buoys, highly sophisticated devices that can test temperatures at many different levels of ocean water. There are about 3000 of them floating in the oceans. They transmit their data regularly to satellites.]

NCAR estimates 50 percent of the expected heat is "missing," perhaps buried in the ocean at depths below 3000 feet. NCAR admits it can not prove this speculation. For further comment, seehttp://pielkeclimatesci.wordpress.com/2010/04/16/is-there-missing-heat-in-the-climate-system-my-comments-on-this-ncar-press-release/

[kareemachan]

06:49 PM on 04/19/2010

You've never met the Canadian geese who have decided to stick around our neck of the woods year-round. They know a good thing when they see it.

[kareemachan]

06:50 PM on 04/19/2010

Oops, this was supposed to be a reply to DH 11 below....

[Das Hirschenhofer 11]

01:07 PM on 04/19/2010

I'm of the mind that birds and other migratory animals and such will always migrate. They might change patterns sure...but never migrate again...? I think not. That's akin to saying Hwy-forty is closed in Flagstaff, AZ so you won't be able to migrate there...oh snap...forgot all about Hwy-17 too Hwy-10...my bad. LOL..Luv ya all. Peace and long life