Climate change plays havoc with wildlife in UK
The
National Trust of UK has come up with a study, which shows the impact of
climate change on UK’s wildlife. According to the trust UK wildlife is
struggling to cope with erratic and unseasonal weather, which has taken its
toll for a second consecutive year. Species under threat include
puffins, marsh fritillary butterflies and lesser horseshoe bats.
The
unusual seasonal patterns include the following.
•Snowdrops and red admiral butterflies were first spotted in
January, earlier than normal.
• Bees were hit hard in April by frost and snow
• Rain in late May caused many birds' nests to fail, including
those of the blue and great tits, because of the lack of insect food
• It was a poor summer for migrant insects - butterflies, moths,
hoverflies, ladybirds and dragonflies - because of the wet and cold June
• In July, puffin numbers on the Farne Islands were down 35% on
what they had been five years earlier
• The common autumn cranefly, usually in best proportions in
September, was all but absent.
The
trust concludes that climate change is not some future prediction of what might
happen, it's happening now.
I feel that this piece of information from UK calls for an immediate study of the impact of climate change on India’s wildlife also. A pointer is the erratic birth of Nilgiri Tahr in Eravikulam National Park, Munnar, Kerala. It used to occur with clockwork precision in the first week of January. This is now getting delayed by more than one month. The distribution pattern of the animal inside park is also showing drastic changes. It is time to act.
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