Calif. drought puts animals at risk
By Edward Ortiz, Sacramento Bee
California’s drought is imperiling tricolored blackbirds, large trees and native fish, with some of the affected species already on the state’s endangered list and others likely headed there because of rapidly declining numbers, scientists say.
“The problems created by the drought are just a harbinger of things to come,” said Peter Moyle, a professor at the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences, which hosted a daylong Capitol summit Friday on economic and environmental costs of the drought.
“Native fishes and the ecosystems that support them are incredibly vulnerable to drought,” Moyle said. “There are currently 37 species of fish on the endangered species list in California – and there is every sign that that number will increase,” he said.
Eighty percent of those species face extinction by the year 2100 if present trends continue, Moyle said.
Droughts happen. Animals are affected and some die but in the long run nature happens. The only thing worse is mindless humans who think they can fix it all. Let it go people. The animals deal with it just fine. When will you learn to leave nature ALONE!
‘When will you learn to leave nature ALONE!’
Your comment brings up some very interesting concepts.
We can’t ‘learn’ that. As a species we differentiated ourselves by learning to manipulate the environment for our own benefit, the opposite of leaving it alone. You don’t support the regression of civilization, no one does, but the result of leaving nature alone would be just that.