Climate Change and Animals

A while back we wrote an interesting article highlighting the effects of climate change on amphibians. I highly recommend that you take a moment to read that article, which you can find the article if you click my username and browse my submitted articles, as it does a great job at investigating the effects on a species that is very in tune and dependant on its environment. But what about the effect of climate change on everything else?

We've heard the stories and press releases for years - holes in the ozone layer, the polar ice caps melting and migration patterns disrupted. The out-of-season weather patterns are also disrupting wildlife. These factors are all compound and have been growing in magnitude for some time. Often, these issues are interlinked, and the wildlife of the world is being affected more and more obviously.

The melting polar ice caps are of particular concern as they broadly affect a number of species that are dependent on the ice plateaus as home and hunting ground. The Arctic circle's ice loss has reached the point where the Northwester Passage has been carved open, with commercial vessels able to navigate the gap; in the past, only specially designed ice-breakers were able to traverse the passage before it froze over again.

This will lead polar bears, and other Arctic animals, to migrate. There is already going to be strain on the areas where they will migrate to, which will impact on all local wildlife. Of course, should the polar bears not manage to migrate then we can expect them to become extinct, as they rely on the pack ice and ice floes to hunt.

The severe changes in weather are having an unusual effect on wildlife as well. In Britain just last week, the out of season heat brought animals out of their pre-programmed hibernate rituals as the trees and plants began to blossom once more. Whilst this doesn't seem like it should be a big problem, now that the weather has turned those same animals can find it hard to readapt now that the time has come to hibernate again.

These weather patterns don't just affect hibernating animals though. Drastic changes in weather can damage crops and kill plant life when the environment changes too much, leaving animals without their necessary foods. This may start at the bottom of the food chain, but if animals lose their food supply, they will migrate or die out, leaving those animals that prey upon them to suffer as well. It is a vicious cycle that has repercussions for the entire hierarchy in the animal kingdom.

Climate change is a very real issue that is already affecting wildlife worldwide, but given enough time it will encompass all walks of life and change the world - we can help the future by starting today and aid in the preservation of those creatures that are being affected already.

Head to our website, http://www.animalfriends.org.uk/ to read more about what we do. For every quote made online we'll donate 50p to an animal charity with the goal of donating a million pound to animal charities by the end of 2012. Keep up to date with all things Animal Friends related on our Feel Good Park Facebook page, where every 'like' we receive we'll donate £1 to an animal welfare charity.

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