The wonderful Caroline from Enviroline has shared the third post in the series being run by the Climate Change Collective.
Phenology is the timings of animal and plant yearly cycles. As the climate changes, these timings change too. For example, birds are starting to breed earlier because the peak insect abundance is happening sooner. This puts added pressure on birds to mate earlier than normal.
Animals rely on environmental cues, specifically for timing and migration navigation. Some animals are staying in one place instead of migrating because the temperature is warmer all year round. Migrating has lots of benefits, the main one is that they are less at risk of catching infections and diseases. Since they don’t stay in one place for too long, they are less likely to be contaminated. For example, there has been a reduction in the amount of Monarch butterflies migrating. Studies have shown that there are more butterflies with an infection that don’t migrate than ones that do.
Plants are flowering sooner as the temperature is warmer, has anyone else noticed flowers blossoming now? I’ve seen some and it’s quite worrying considering we are going into winter!
Read on here to see what Caroline has to say…. How climate change impacts animals.
I think we’re all aware of the impact that the changing climate is likely to have, or is already having, on sea levels, temperatures, our own places to live and farm. But, maybe we’re less conscious or we place less value on the consequences of global warming on the animals that we share this planet with.
There are loads of effects on our livelihoods, food sources and luxuries that come from the loss insects; where would we be without bees. The species Caroline mentions aren’t apex ones, they seem to be key to habitats or biomes. But that doesn’t mean that we should be unconcerned about the threat that global warming poses to them. Humankind understands the overall ecosystems of our planet and how they all interact that we can’t possibly predict how the loss of the snowshoe hare would affect us. Even if its loss would have minimal consequences for us, does that mean we shouldn’t work to preserve it or any of the other species that Caroline describes? I think the answer is no.
Please read Caroline’s full post for lots more information and considered thoughts on this important topic.
Smelly Socks and Garden Peas 
You point out such an important thing when you talk about how the loss of one (seemingly) small creature has a larger impact than we can even know. Everything on our planet is so interconnected!
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It’s definitely a troubling topic – Thanks for bringing this to peoples attention. I’ve definitely noticed the differences in the garden this year with regards to plants flowering differently.
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Considering the awe experienced by astronauts for Earth below, one wonders whether a large portion of the planet’s most freely-polluting corporate CEOs, governing leaders and over-consuming/disposing individuals rocketed far enough above the earth for a day’s (or more) orbit, while looking down, would have a sufficiently profound effect on them to change their apparently unconditional political/financial support of Big Fossil Fuel?
[Then again, they may thus deliberately avoid do so lest they be self-compelled to quit their destructive industry upon returning to Earth’s surface.]
We do know that industry and fossil-fuel friendly governments can tell when a very large portion of the populace has been too tired and worried about feeding/housing themselves or their family, and the continuing COVID-19 virus-variant concerns — all while on insufficient income — to criticize them for whatever environmental damage their policies cause/allow, particularly when not immediately observable.
We also know that global mass-addiction to fossil fuel products undoubtedly helps keep the average consumer quiet about the planet’s greatest polluter, lest they feel and/or be publicly deemed hypocritical.
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Thank you for raising awareness of such an important topic. I’ve noticed changes and we are heading for a very dire situation.
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This is something that we’ve noticed. Everyone is feeling the pinch for it too with how our food costs are rising. Was the fact that a whole area of snow crabs disappeared in the news in the UK?
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It is a troubling topic. Thanks for highlighting the changing seasons and how they affect plants as well as animals.
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Your article give me new perspectives about effects of global warming to animal, as farmer in Indonesia, I notice many case on behaviour changing on animal such as bug blooming
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