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Mountain birds on 'escalator to extinction' as planet warms
A meticulous re-creation of a 3-decade-old study of birds on a mountainside in Peru has given scientists a rare chance to prove how the changing climate is pushing species out of the places they are best adapted to.
Surveys of more than 400 species of birds in 1985 and then in 2017 have found that populations of almost all had declined, as many as eight had disappeared completely, and nearly all had moved to higher elevations in what scientists call "an escalator to extinction."
"Once you move up as far as you can go, there's nowhere else left," said John W. Fitzpatrick, a study author and director of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. "On this particular mountain, some ridgetop bird populations were literally wiped out."
(Score: 2, Interesting) by khallow on Wednesday October 31 2018, @01:45AM (2 children)
Ok, so what? I think it's time to stop blaming others for weak propaganda. I see someone else in this thread is blaming the Koch brothers despite them being minor players at best - for example, they're outspent by the IPCC (which in addition has heavy, heavy leverage from world-wide volunteer scientist labor). It's typical blame redirection. If minor expenditures by the oil industry can spoil a massive propaganda effort, then it's time to look at the propaganda effort and see what's broken with it. A key thing is the false certainty where all kinds of assertions are made, such as here, the local extinction of tropical bird species on the basis of weak evidence - two observations made 35 years apart.
Present a solid argument and the more extreme viewpoints lose support.
(Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Wednesday October 31 2018, @02:03PM (1 child)
> on the basis of weak evidence - two observations made 35 years apart.
Are you saying that global warming does not exist?
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday November 01 2018, @11:03PM
No. [soylentnews.org]