Earth’s wildlife is facing four big dangers but global climate change is now
the most serious, a top scientist warned today.
It has become a greater threat to biodiversity than habitat destruction,
invasion by non-native species and over-exploitation by human beings, according
to the Government’s Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir David King.
Sir David, writing in BIRDS, the members’ magazine of the Royal Society for the
Protection of Birds, warns that global warming is happening very fast – and he
is clear on what is to blame.
“The pattern of climate change that has been seen over the past one hundred
years or so cannot be accounted for, unless human activities are included in the
calculations,” he warns.
Sea level rise, the melting of snow, ice and glaciers, severe flooding and
hotter summers are all major and potentially devastating consequences of climate
change.
Sir David warns that birds are breeding earlier in Britain, meaning they must
depend on their insect food appearing earlier too.
Further afield, the retreat of sea ice caused by higher temperatures has
coincided with the decline of the Adele penguin at sites within the Antarctic by
almost two-thirds.
Sir David says: “The warming could take place so quickly that many species will
not be able to adapt quickly enough to leave successor species, or, trapped in
local environments, these species will be unable to migrate to more hospitable
areas of the planet.
“A concerted global effort is needed to limit the extent of global warming by
reducing carbon dioxide emissions as well as adapting to those changes in
climate that are now unavoidable.
“Effective action requires international agreement to curb future emissions
radically, a process that would eventually need to engage the entire
population.”
The RSPB and other groups warned last year that up to 37% of all plant and
animal species would be committed to extinction by 2050 because of climate
change.
For birds such as the Scottish crossbill and dotterel, Britain will simply
become too warm.
Elsewhere, climate change could force birds from special reserves set up for
their protection.
For example, the southern bald ibis is under climate pressure at sites in Africa
and in Costa Rica, while the keel-billed toucan has fled to higher ground in
Latin America to find suitable feeding and breeding sites.
Dr David Gibbons, head of conservation science at the RSPB, said “The loss of so
many species is unthinkable.
“We must all follow Sir David’s advice and do what we can to reduce the effects
of climate change.”