Here’s yet another result of climate change: Our landscapes will change too. It’s not just that we’ll have to plant more hot weather, drought-resistant foliage, it’s that some of these plants will INVADE. Is this a problem? Just ask the city of Atlanta about kudzu!
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The future may not roast us–it may freeze us instead. We may even be heading for a mini ice age like the one that occurred in the 17th Century. In other words, we may soon have a REAL reason to dread December!
The rising trend in world temperatures ended in 1997, despite the fact that CO2 levels have continued to rise without interruption, and now average temperatures are plunging, worldwide. The sun is now heading towards a "grand minimum" in its output, which will mean cold summers, bitter winters and a shorter crop growing season.
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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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In their search for a low greenhouse gas emissions fuels, scientists have done a lot of embarrassing things: They have measured kangaroo farts and cow farts. Now they are collecting giraffe manure.
Prowling the animal cages at the Audubon Zoo with tweezers and sandwich bags was an unusual and somewhat disconcerting experience for David A. Mullin and his graduate students.
In the January 10th edition of the New York Times, Guy Gugliotta quotes biologist David A. Mullin (as he prowls the zoo with tweezers and baggies) as saying, "I’d never stood next to a giraffe before. They’re huge."
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