While in some cases, climate change is causing animals to locate to new places, it’s mostly regular migration: Every fall, tiny hummingbirds face high winds and bad weather to migrate from Canada and the northern United States to as far south as Mexico, then back again in the spring–an amazing total of 4,000 to 5,000 miles. But migrations like this may be even more rare in the future.
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Humans are tough on animals, but sometimes they fight back. Nature isn’t always benign: Some critters can be dangerous. You know you should avoid poisonous snakes, but did you know you shouldn’t pet that armadillo? It may be carrying leprosy, and while leprosy, now known as Hanson’s Disease, is a bacterial infection that can now be cured, it’s not something you want to get!
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Our animals are becoming so beleaguered that they are learning techniques of self defense. For instance, fish are learning how to locate (and thus avoid) Dead zones. These have long been a source of concern around the world, including in the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea and Chesapeake Bay.
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First it was birds, then bees and bats, then dolphins and whales and other People of the Sea (NOTE: Subscribers can still listen to this show). Now 600 dead penguins have washed up on the shore of Uruguay, on their regular route to Brazil. Could this be due to climate change?
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