Quote:

[F]irst, mountain pine beetles devastated lodgepole and ponderosa pine trees across western North America. Then came spruce beetles, which have targeted high-elevation Engelmann spruce, spreading from New Mexico into Colorado and beyond. Altogether, with their advance fueled by climate change, bark beetles have ravaged 85,000 square miles of forest in the western United States — an area the size of Utah — since 2000. Pine beetles also have killed trees across roughly 65,000 square miles of forest in British Columbia, and in the southeastern U.S., they have caused millions of dollars of damage to the timber industry in states such as Alabama and Mississippi. The beetles are now advancing up the Atlantic coast, reaching New York’s Long Island in 2014 and Connecticut the following year. A new study projects they could begin moving into the twisting pitch pines of New England and the stately red pines of Canada’s Maritime provinces by decade’s end. Warming winters could push the beetles north into Canada’s boreal forest within 60 years, climate scientists say.

https://e360.yale.edu/features/small-pests-big-problems-the-global-spread-of-bark-beetles#:~:text=Warming%20temperatures%20are%20fueling%20the,forest%20ecosystems%20may%20never%20recover.

https://e360.yale.edu/assets/site/_1260xAUTO_stretch_center-center/TreeMortalityCalifornia_Aug2016_USFS_2000.jpg

AGW, as we have seen from the Global Temperature Records Summary from NOAA, makes winters milder. So winter temperatures that once would have killed huge numbers of the beetles do not happen as often anymore. So more often large numbers of the beetles are alive when spring arrives and quickly eat the bark of large numbers of pine or spruce (depending on species of beetles) killing the trees. Same thing is happening in Europe and to other species of conifers—read the reference I cited!

So what, you ask? Tough on a few lumber mills?

Acres of dead pine and spruce trees means no habitat for critters! No nesting spaces for birds etc. This can throw the ecology further out of kilter, affecting more animals and animal populations (e.g. less birds might see more insect pest species proliferate.) Acres of dead, dry trees are more susceptible to wildfires, making the fires fiercer! Erosion will increase, etc.

AGW is very relevant to critters.

Quote:

Climate change gets blamed for a lot of things these days: inundating small islands, fueling catastrophic fires, amping-up hurricanes and smashing Arctic sea ice. But a global review of insect research has found another casualty: 40% of insect species are declining and a third are endangered. It confirms what many have been suspecting: in Australia and around the world, arthropods – which include insects, spiders, centipedes and the like — appear to be in trouble. The global review comes hard on the heels of research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA that suggests a potent link between intensifying heat waves and stunning declines in the abundance of arthropods.https://theconversation.com/climate-change-is-killing-off-earths-little-creatures-109719

AGW is having an alarming effect on insects (critters)

Thank you for your support, Barny.

Maybe not AGW related but. . .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuANRD1DyuU

OK, a scientific study found:


Quote:

Highlights • Over 40% of insect species are threatened with extinction.[My empahsis.] • Lepidoptera, Hymenoptera and dung beetles (Coleoptera) are the taxa most affected. • Four aquatic taxa are imperiled and have already lost a large proportion of species. • Habitat loss by conversion to intensive agriculture is the main driver of the declines. • Agro-chemical pollutants, invasive species and climate change are additional causes.[My emphasis]

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320718313636

Lepidoptera are our friends butterflies and moths—we can help them!

Climate change is mentioned as one of the causes of the decline—so are invasive species (like the Pine Bark Beetle above) that get a chance to invade because of AGW.

When you drive in the country and see huge swathes devoted to one crop, grain or oil seed like rapeseed/canola—HM trees were cut down for that? If you are an insect not adapted to eat wheat or oilseed plants that is a big part of the country you can’t live on. Locusts can tho! Spray, farmer, spray!

Bit more detail from the paper cited in the OP:


Quote:

The main drivers of species declines appear to be in order of importance: i) habitat loss and conversion to intensive agriculture and urbanisation; ii) pollution, mainly that by synthetic pesticides and fertilisers; iii) biological factors, including pathogens and introduced species; and iv) climate change. The latter factor is particularly important in tropical regions, but only affects a minority of species in colder climes and mountain settings of temperate zones.

Already hot, the tropics are getting hotter.

The subtropics, and the temperate zones outside the subtropics are warming too: species, mainly pest species can spread out the tropics into the subtropics and the temperate zones or part of them.

The colder zones not seeing as much effect on insect species as the warmer zones—but vertebrate species there face problems.

Quote:

Climate change is doing "widespread and consequential" harm to animals and plants, which are struggling to adapt to new conditions, according to a major report released Monday.

(The major report was IPCC 5: http://www.ipcc-wg2.gov/AR5/ but could not link to it.)


Quote:

The report, from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), finds that many life-forms are moving north or into deeper waters to survive as their habitats shift. They're also being forced to change their behaviors. For instance, many birds are nesting, breeding, and migrating earlier as spring arrives sooner than before.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/4/140331-global-warming-climate-change-ipcc-animals-science-environment/#:~:text=Coral%2C%20polar%20bears%2C%20and%20frogs,among%20the%20species%20hit%20hardest.&text=Climate%20change%20is%20doing%20%22widespread,a%20major%20report%20released%20Monday.

I urge members to read that Nat Geo article.

A few years ago I read that spring arrives 11 days earlier than usual in England, greatly handicapping migratory birds as the food—insect larva say—that they feed on is no longer present.

So vegetation starts drying out earlier than used to be the case and as the globe heats up the vegetation that grew in winter dries more completely and earlier. Winters are rather milder than before (see the Pine Bark beetle post above) so there is more growth of vegetation to be dried. Because the bushfire season in Australia is expanding (BoM/CSIRO “State of the Climate 2016”) fuel reduction burns are harder to do safely.

So the scene is set at the start of summer 2019:

https://www.sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2020/01/08/australian-bushfires-more-than-one-billion-animals-impacted.html


Quote:

Speaking to National Public Radio in America Professor Dickman said, "I think there's nothing quite to compare with the devastation that's going on over such a large area so quickly. It's a monstrous event in terms of geography and the number of individual animals affected." “We know that Australian biodiversity has been going down over the last several decades, and it's probably fairly well known that Australia's got the world's highest rate of extinction for mammals. It's events like this that may well hasten the extinction process for a range of other species. So, it's a very sad time. . . . NSW’s wildlife is seriously threatened and under increasing pressure from a range of threats, including land clearing, exotic pests and climate change. Australia supports a rich and impressive diversity of mammals, with over 300 native species. Some 34 species and subspecies of native mammals have become extinct in Australia over the last 200 years, the highest rate of loss for any region in the world.

In Australia:

Quote:

Australia's environment minister says up to 30% of koalas killed in NSW mid-north coast fires Sussan Ley’s estimate suggests up to 8,400 koalas may have perished in the bushfires. . . . However, early reports that koalas were “functionally extinct” in Australia were deemed to be incorrect and an exaggeration, though the species is under threat. Heartbreaking and heartwarming: animals rescued from Australia's bushfires devastation Read more In December, a NSW government inquiry was told that thousands of koalas had been killed, and the fires were so large “we will probably never find the bodies”. In the Adelaide Hills in SA, volunteer firefighters shared images of koalas rescued from the fires – including six in one house, and two koalas who came out of the bush looking for help. “I get mail from all around the world from people absolutely moved and amazed by, number one, our wildlife volunteer response, and also by the habits of these curious creatures,” Ley said.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/dec/27/australias-environment-minister-says-up-to-30-of-koalas-killed-in-nsw-mid-north-coast-fires


Not just AGW tho that is making bushfires much more deadly:

Quote:

Land-clearing in New South Wales has risen nearly 60% since the state relaxed its native vegetation laws in 2017, new government data shows. The report shows 60,800 hectares of woody vegetation was cleared in 2018, up from 58,000 hectares the previous year and an average of 38,800 hectares between 2009 and 2017. Of this clearing, 73% was unexplained, meaning it wasn’t referred to the state government for an environmental assessment, either because an approval was not required or the clearing may have been conducted unlawfully. The 2018 data signals a jump of 57% on the long-term average for the state and follows the government’s introduction of more lenient land-clearing laws in August 2017.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jul/02/land-clearing-new-south-wales-rises-60-per-cent-since-laws-relaxed#:~:text=Land%2Dclearing%20in%20New%20South,hectares%20between%202009%20and%202017.

Despite the death of thousands of koalas the land clearing laws remain as enacted in 2017.

First species extinct because of climate change and associated sea level rise:


Quote:

A small rodent that lived only on a single island off Australia is likely the world's first mammal to become a casualty of climate change, scientists reported in June 2016. The government of Australia has now officially recognized the Bramble Cay melomys (Melomys rubicola) as extinct. The animal seems to have disappeared from its home in the eastern Torres Strait of the Great Barrier Reef, scientists say. The animal was last seen by a fisherman in 2009, but failed attempts to trap any in late 2014 prompted scientists to say it is likely extinct. Also called the mosaic-tailed rat, the rodent is named after its home on Bramble Cay, a small island that is at most 10 feet above sea level. The rats were first seen by Europeans on the island in 1845, and there were several hundred there as of 1978. But since 1998, the part of the island that sits above high tide has shrunk from 9.8 acres to 6.2 acres. That means the island's vegetation has been shrinking, and the rodents have lost about 97 percent of their habitat. "The key factor responsible for the extirpation of this population was almost certainly ocean inundation of the low-lying land, very likely on multiple occasions, during the last decade, causing dramatic habitat loss and perhaps also direct mortality of individuals," writes the team, led by Ian Gynther from Queensland’s Department of Environment and Heritage Protection. “For low-lying islands like Bramble Cay, the destructive effects of extreme water levels resulting from severe meteorological events are compounded by the impacts from anthropogenic climate change-driven sea-level rise,” the authors add.

https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/animals/2019/02/first-mammal-species-recognized-extinct-due-climate-change

Unusually warm weather encouraged swallows to stay in the UK till mid October before starting their migration to Africa. In France they encountered unusually cold and rainy weather and hundreds are dying from the cold, wet and lack of the flying insects they rely on for food:


Quote:

Residents in the Lot, in the Midi-Pyrénées, Occitanie, have reported that many swallows have been suffering in the cold and wet weather conditions, and have been dying from exhaustion after becoming drenched and freezing. Stéphanie Plaga Lemanski, director at LPO Lot, told local newspaper La Dépêche: “One school in the department counted almost 50 dead swallows in its playground, and the commune of Corn found around 20 dead. It’s a massacre; a desolate spectacle of corpses.” She explained that the deaths have likely been caused by the unpredictable weather conditions, with a “brutal cold” hitting the region, as well as sudden high levels of rainfall. Ms Plaga Lemanski said: “As it was rather mild for the first three weeks of September, the swallows were not encouraged to migrate. Then, one day from the next, it started raining, temperatures fell by 15C, insects were rare so [the birds] struggled to find enough to eat, they get cold and lose energy which stops them flying.” The birds are then susceptible to hypothermia and starvation. European swallows - often also known as "barn swallows" - are small birds with blue backs, red throats, pale or white underparts, and long tails. They feed on flying insects. They usually migrate to Africa in September, but sometimes leave it until October in warmer years. They arrive back in Europe in around April, and breed in June. A healthy swallow can live for up to 16 years. Another bird specialist noticed that the swallows were gathering unusually in the Lac de Bannac, between the Lot and Aveyron, and were being “blocked from their [normal] migration by continuous rain”. Now, residents in the area are being encouraged to help the swallows by capturing them - temporarily - and bringing them inside to warm up.

https://www.connexionfrance.com/French-news/Residents-called-to-save-dying-swallows-in-southwest-France-by-LPO-campaign

I have moved the discussion of AGW (or not) to the “Introduction to AGW” thread where it is more relevant by showing AGW is real.

You thief.

Evidence for global warming now has 42 pages
and I started it.

It is just weather reports.

You just do not have the intelligence or education or character to run a board.

In have unlocked “Intro to AGW” and will leave it unlocked for a couple hours. Discussion/argument about AGW should be made there, will show AGW is very real.

As to an ice age—crap, ripe old crap. A GSM might cool by as much as AGW warms in a decade. With the oceans releasing some heat as cooling starts nobody will even feel any cooling. For this nonsense a big board was destroyed.

Some data on the alarming decline in insect numbers:

http://www.imkerverein-berlin-zehlendorf.de/wp-content/uploads/KrefeldBiomasseVogel2017Science.pdf


Quote:

Now, a new set of long-term data is coming to light, this time from a dedicated group of mostly amateur entomologists who have tracked insect abundance at more than 100 nature reserves in western Europe since the 1980s. Over that time the group, the Krefeld Entomological Society, has seen the yearly insect catches fluctuate, as expected. But in 2013 they spotted something alarming. When they returned to one of their earliest trapping sites from 1989, the total mass of their catch had fallen by nearly 80% (see graph, right). Perhaps it was a particularly bad year, they thought, so they set up the traps again in 2014. The numbers were just as low. Through more direct comparisons, the group—whichhad preserved thousands of samples over 3  decades—found dramatic declines across more than a dozen other sites. Such losses reverberate up the food chain. “If you’re an insect-eating bird living in that area, four-fifths of your food is gone in the last quarter-century, which is staggering,” says Dave Goulson, an ecologist at the University of Sussex in the United Kingdom, who is working with the Krefeld group to analyze and publish some of the data. “One almost hopes that it’s not representative—that it’s some strange artifact.” No one knows how broadly representative the data are of trends elsewhere. But the specificity of the observations offers a unique window into the state of some of the planet’s less appreciated species. Germany’s “Red List” of endangered insects doesn’t look alarming at first glance, says Sorg, who curates the Krefeld society’s extensive collection of insect specimens. Few species are listed as extinct because they are still found in one or two sites. But that obscures the fact that many have disappeared from large areas where they were once common. Across Germany, only three bumble bee species have vanished, but the Krefeld region has lost more than half the two dozen bumble bee species that society members documented early in the 20th century

The insects go then the birds that eat insects go and complex ecosystems lose a lot of their complexity and can no longer perform ecological functions that we rely on. Pollinators go (butterflies, bees, bumblebees) and crops don’t get pollinated.

Bobby. wrote on Oct 25^th, 2020 at 11:40am:

You thief. Evidence for global warming now has 42 pages and I started it.

So—did I copy a post from your fatuous thread of weather reports?

Did I do that?

Can you answer honestly?