Almost overnight two important new pieces of research on climate change have been published.
Research by the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute has managed to find the fingerprint of global warming in increasingly warm years in England. 2014 was a record-breaking warm year, despite not having any individual record-breaking months within it. The signs of climate change have become so obvious that it is now possible to see the effect at scales as localised as England, rather than just seeing the impact at a global scale.
The report finds that hot years like 2014 are at least 13 times more likely due to climate change. Several years ago there was severe reluctance to attribute individual weather events or changes in local weather to climate change, but that reluctance seems to be slipping away as the evidence becomes clearer.
Warmer weather might sound nice, but it could play havoc with many things, including our wildlife.
The second piece of research, carried out by the University of Connecticut, shows that if we keep climate change within politically agreed limits of a rise of no more than two degrees, one in 20 species will go extinct. If it rises by four degrees by the end of the century, not even the highest estimate, then one in six species of wildlife could go extinct. Those with restricted ranges or on islands (and unable to move to escape the impacts) will be worst affected - in places like Australia and New Zealand.
So, two new pieces of research, undertaken separately, but that tell a compelling story: we are seeing climate change's local impacts more and more clearly, and we're increasingly sure about the kinds of loss and damage that climate change will cause. Together, these both spell bad news for wildlife.
If you want to Speak Up for the wildlife you love and that could be affected by climate change, come along to the largest ever climate meeting with MPs, on 17 June. We hope we'll see you there.
Research shows orangutans will be more affected this century by climate change than by habitat loss
Photo: Matt Adam Williams
Matt Williams, Assistant Warden, RSPB Snape.
I've never believed in man made climate change. Climate change has always happened, as we've had period of freezing winters when there was a mini ice age. And again we've had periods of wamer periods over the last 1000 years as well. I believe it's to do with a change from time to time with a change in the tilt of the earths polar regions. All governments want to do is charge more tax because of the climate change theory. And most people don't want to pay more tax, for a climate change levy.
Regards Ian.
Regards,
Ian.