Looking at what climate change will mean for California
By Matt Weiser, Sacramento Bee
The songbirds at the feeder outside your window are not the same as they used to be. The goldfinch, the grosbeak and even the ever-present sparrow are all a little bit bigger.
The reason is climate change, according to a new study, which found that 70 bird species, all common to Central California, have evolved a longer wingspan and greater body mass over the past 40 years.
Scientists think such adaptations, in annual increments of less than a tenth of a percent on average, help birds cope with food shortages and stronger storms already triggered by climate change.
“We need to be thinking about things like extreme weather and other ways climate change is going to impact our ecosystems, and those things are not just important for birds,” said Nat Seavy, co-author of the bird study and research director at PRBO Conservation Science, a research facility in Petaluma. “They are important for farmers and all sorts of people.”
The evidence is just one piece of a new wave of research slowly painting a more vivid picture of what climate change may mean for California. The studies also reflect a new effort by scientists to help the public understand climate change by speaking plainly.
“We struggled mightily to translate these results into lessons that could be useful to policymakers and resource managers,” said James Cloern, a biologist at the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park and lead author of a comprehensive new climate study on the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
“We don’t want to scare people with this paper. We want to put them in a position where they can start thinking and planning.”
Why are environmentalists SO afraid of evolution?
If ‘environmentalists are afraid of evolution’ is your conclusion based on what you are able to comprehend in this article, you should read it again.
The earth is billions of years old, and evolution happens slowly. Much slower than the rate that the climate is changing. The species will not be able to evolve fast enough and there could be big changes in biodiversity. The scientific role of an ‘indicator species’ is important here. Very simple stuff, middle school students should be able to understand this.
And to preempt the flood of politically minded deniers:
Post links to research that supports your claims.
Well according to this study-
1. “Extreme water heights that cause flooding – a combination of sea level rise, high tide and storm surge – will switch from rare to routine. Water heights that now occur eight hours per decade at the Golden Gate are projected to occur 1,000 hours per decade by 2050, and worsen thereafter.” (I guess Al Gore shouldn’t have taken all his movie profits to buy a place right by the ocean in Santa Barbara?)
2. “Warmer weather in coastal California, and a longer growing season, may increase food supply, allowing birds to grow larger.” (Okay)
3. “The scientists emphasize there is still a lot of uncertainty in their research. In another five years, Cloern said, the size of the changes they project may be different due to new information and tools.” (Sounds very decisive!)
Just quoting yet another study people were paid to undertake!
Pure non science claptrap. This should embarrass any legitimate scientists. Did they also notice the sky is 29 feet lower than in 2003?
They measured a one millimeter difference in birds wingspan over 40 years. This is junk science carried to a new height (pun intended). Nothing is safe from politically correct science
And by 2080 the water is going to be to warm for salmon to survive.
This article should be considered a hate crime against intellect and common sense.
“Ignorance is bliss, unless you’re surrounded by it. . .”
Most comments these days are in the “politically-correct” category, one way or the other, as no one knows how to interpret what they’re reading except how it fits their “agenda”. . .
Think of sustainability concerns as the same as ‘aeronautics’: it is not subject to a vote – it either flies or it doesn’t.
The idea of a minute change in a bird’s wingspan in a 40 year span is the same as realizing the dilemma of 50% of our amphibians – a few tenths of a degree in climate will wipe them out in the near future simply because their system is so much smaller and delicate than our own – – – but we humans plod along as if it does not matter at all ( think the ‘canary in the coal mine’ again) as long as we can buy our cigarettes, hang out at the corner bar, and/or keep our credit rating high so we can buy things without money (until some time in the future!)
If I’m wrong about any of the above, look into the Architecture 2030 website, as they have GPS maps of the U.S. coastline cities (@ 1 foot, at 2 feet, at 3 feet, corresponding to each degree higher) as to the decimation of those coastal regions after Arctic melting)
Architecture 2030 was adopted by the American Institute of Architects (80,000 members and allied members) and the U.S. Congress a few years ago – not that one can tell from the current ridiculous political situation.
Human folly is now the operative ‘modus operandi’ of most of our institutions…
I would also refer to the work of Annie Leonard (of Berkeley, for all the cynics) who just added “The Story of Broke” (on November 8th) to the multi-million-hit “The Story of Stuff”.
She says more in these 8 minute and 20 minute ‘stick-figure’ animation pieces respectively than most of the Evening news programs put together, as to our current realities.
The ski industry has been counseled to build near the top (only) as the snowfalls may not reach high enough on the mountain to make facilities worthwhile. . .Heavenly built a 500 seat restaurant at the top of the gondola following this dictate – therefore you may surmise that this is not part of natural “evolution”. . .
The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself.
Hey Parker, how meany ‘weathers’ (units of) make up a ‘climate’ (one unit)?