Post by LittleBudgie2005 on May 15, 2007 20:22:07 GMT 7
This article can be found in The West Australian paper, World, on page 22 (Tuesday, May 15th 2007).
Like the canaries that once warned of danger in mine shafts, migrating birds are becoming harbingers of another risk - climate change.
Disoriented by erratic weather, birds are changing migration habits and routes to adjust to warmer winters, disappearing feeding grounds and shrinking wetlands. Failure to adapt risks extinction, experts say.
Bird watchers and conservationists in dozens of countries staged events at the weekend mark World Migratory Bird Day to attract attention to the rising threat of global warming.
"Changes are already taking place in the habits of migrating birds," said Robert Hepworth, executive secretary of Convention on Migratory Species, a treaty under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Program.
Bird life already is under pressure from human intrusions, such as coastal development, but climate change is making matters worse.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a body of 2500 scientists, has warned in a series of reports this year the high emissions of greenhouse gases - mainly from power plants, industries and vehicles - are likely to raise Earth's average temperatures by at least 2C, which is predicted to drive up to 30 per cent of known animal species to extinction.
Migrating birds are especially vulnerable. Climate change can strike at each stage of their annual trek, from breeding grounds to rest stops along their journey, to the final destination.
Studies cited by the organisation say arctic tundra, where many species breed, is melting. Even moderate rises in sea levels can swamp wetlands where travellers stop to feed. Deserts are expanding, increasing the distance between rests.
Birds face starvation when they arrive too early or too late to find their normal diet of insects, plankton or fish. With warmer winters in the north, some birds have stopped migrating, leaving them at risk when the next cold winter strikes.
"Species that adapted to changes over millennia are now being asked to make those adaptions extremely quickly because of the swift rise in temperatures," Mr Hepworth said.
"We don't know how many will survive. We will lose species."
The convention's scientific council say 84 per cent of the 235 species listed in treaty's annexes could be affected by changes in water availability, food supplies, more frequent stroms and competition with alian species intruding into their habitats.
...Climate Shift Threatens to Kill off Birds...
Like the canaries that once warned of danger in mine shafts, migrating birds are becoming harbingers of another risk - climate change.
Disoriented by erratic weather, birds are changing migration habits and routes to adjust to warmer winters, disappearing feeding grounds and shrinking wetlands. Failure to adapt risks extinction, experts say.
Bird watchers and conservationists in dozens of countries staged events at the weekend mark World Migratory Bird Day to attract attention to the rising threat of global warming.
"Changes are already taking place in the habits of migrating birds," said Robert Hepworth, executive secretary of Convention on Migratory Species, a treaty under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Program.
Bird life already is under pressure from human intrusions, such as coastal development, but climate change is making matters worse.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a body of 2500 scientists, has warned in a series of reports this year the high emissions of greenhouse gases - mainly from power plants, industries and vehicles - are likely to raise Earth's average temperatures by at least 2C, which is predicted to drive up to 30 per cent of known animal species to extinction.
Migrating birds are especially vulnerable. Climate change can strike at each stage of their annual trek, from breeding grounds to rest stops along their journey, to the final destination.
Studies cited by the organisation say arctic tundra, where many species breed, is melting. Even moderate rises in sea levels can swamp wetlands where travellers stop to feed. Deserts are expanding, increasing the distance between rests.
Birds face starvation when they arrive too early or too late to find their normal diet of insects, plankton or fish. With warmer winters in the north, some birds have stopped migrating, leaving them at risk when the next cold winter strikes.
"Species that adapted to changes over millennia are now being asked to make those adaptions extremely quickly because of the swift rise in temperatures," Mr Hepworth said.
"We don't know how many will survive. We will lose species."
The convention's scientific council say 84 per cent of the 235 species listed in treaty's annexes could be affected by changes in water availability, food supplies, more frequent stroms and competition with alian species intruding into their habitats.