If you've been reading the newspapers, watching TV or simply checking your social media accounts, you can't fail to have noticed that world leaders are meeting in Paris this week to discuss ways to prevent climate change from getting any worse. This is probably the most important international conference for the future of the planet, as climate change doesn't only impact on wildlife, but on human health, crop production, water availability and much more besides.
The science is unequivocal. Global temperatures are rising at an unprecedented rate, and we (the human race) are to blame. After decades of reliance of carbon emitting fossils fuels, such as coal, oil and gas to power global industry and transport and to provide electricity for our homes, the time has come to refocus our energy needs and reduce global carbon dioxide emissions. Developed countries are rightly blamed for their role in burning fossil fuels in the past, but one of the biggest sources of carbon emissions now is the uncontrolled burning of tropical rainforests on peat soils, especially in south-east Asia. And, as temperatures rise and the Arctic permafrost melts, there's a risk of more carbon being released in coming decades.
Rainforest destruction in Sumatra by Clare Kendall (rspb-images.com)
The RSPB, along with our partners at Birdlife International, and nature conservation groups around the world, have been campaigning for several years to urge governments to seek a carbon-free future. The technology now exists for large-scale solar, wind and hydroelectricity generation, and low energy equipment is becoming more common, but there needs to be a concerted global drive to role out these carbon-free options - and urgently.
You can read more about the RSPB's work on climate change in regular blogs here and find out how you can help here.
If action is not taken quickly, many low-lying areas will become increasingly vulnerable to coastal flooding - including here on the Suffolk coast. In countries such as Bangladesh and the Malvides the situation is even more critical. As saltwater encroaches into freshwater wetlands, this will not only change already vulnerable ecosystems, but will lead to some aquifers and other drinking water supplies becoming salty. This in turn will make it harder to grow traditional crops.
Many people say that wildlife will evolve to respond to these changes, and that will certainly be the case for some species. But will there be suitable habitat elsewhere for our more mobile species to move into, and what about the less mobile species, such as most plants and many insects? How will they move into new areas? Don't be complacent about these. We're not just talking about rare species declining, but common ones too, including crops. We may be forced to change our diet to meet changes in food production.
There's plenty of evidence for the changing climate when we look at the effects it is having our our weather systems. Extremes of weather are becoming more frequent, whether that's heatwaves, cold snaps, storms or droughts. The recent mild wet November has played havoc with nature. Fewer starlings, thrushes and ducks than normal have arrived from northern Europe, as they are yet to be driven south by advancing cold. Conversely, we've been seen unusually late sightings of some of our insects and flowers, while on Thursday a little ringed plover was seen on the Scrape - the latest Suffolk record by more than a month!
There have been a few other unseasonal sightings this week too, with a great crested grebe on Island Mere (they are usually out at sea during the winter), and avocet returning to East Scrape on Saturday, a blackcap around the visitor centre (unusual here in winter) and common darter dragonflies flying until at least the weekend.
Elsewhere, highlights over the weekend included a very showy bittern at Island Mere, regular otter sightings both there and at Bittern Hide, yellow-legged and Caspian gulls on the Scrape, redwings in North Bushes, a kingfisher at Island Mere, and regular sightings of kestrel, sparrowhawk and marsh harrier. The brambling hasn't been seen at the visitor centre since Friday, when a nuthatch was also spotted there.
With so much rain recently, parts of the nature trails at Minsmere are becoming a little wet, so make sure you wear suitable footwear when visiting. Good grips are needed around the temporary North Bushes trail, and waterproof shoes or boots will keep your feet dry when dodging puddles into East Hide and Island Mere.
Thanks Naturalist and sorry for any confusion. Blackcaps are increasingly common winter visitors in the UK - but they are rarely seen in winter at Minsmere, so it is a notable sighting. It's thought that the wintering birds have chosen to migrate NW from Austria and Germany, rather than risk crossing the Alps and Mediterranean. They are able to survive the winter in the UK partly thanks to garden bird feeding, but also because our winters are now milder - as witnessed by increasing populations of other insect eating birds more typically associated with southern Europe - Cetti's warblers and Dartford warblers.
I hope this confusion doesn't reduce the key message, that climate change IS happening, and that governments must work harder to reduce its effects for the sake of wildlife and people.
Re the Blackcap appearance in the winter. Before we all chant the mantra of global warming maybe we should look carefully. The BTO chanted the mantra in a recent comment where they also said the Blackcaps were turning up on fat ball feeders. Just down the road from Minsmere I hear and see them in the winter round the place and they appear at the feeder in very bad weather. Surely it is a matter of them discovering a new feed source, feeders, that can get them through critically bad energy balance days.