Our reindeer are shrinking! Due to global warming, of
course.
At
least, that’s what some scientists from Britain and Norway surmise. And what a
terrible time to break the news to us…right before Christmas. Couldn’t they
have waited a couple of weeks and told us after New Years? What if Rudolph and
crew are too weak to fly?
The
scientists have discovered that adult reindeer living on the Arctic island of
Svalbard are getting smaller, and naturally they think climate change is the
culprit. They say that adult reindeer born here in 2010 weigh- on average- 12
percent less than those born in 1994. Their findings were presented recently at
a meeting of the British Ecological Society.
According
to an Associated Press report, an ecologist from Scotland’s James Hutton
Institute stated that rising temperatures in the Arctic mean Svalbard is
getting more rain, creating a hard ice sheet that the island’s reindeer can’t
easily break through to reach the lichen which comprises the bulk of their
winter food. (They have no trouble getting through a deep snow-pack?). The
B.E.S. says, “The reindeer starve, aborting their calves or giving birth to
much lighter young.” Scientists claim
land surface temperatures in the Arctic were about five degrees Fahrenheit
higher last year than when records began about a century earlier. The average
winter temperature in the Arctic is -30°F. It doesn’t rain at any temperature
close to that. And I doubt any reindeer are despondent at -25°F.
Bizarrely,
the scientists believe that reindeer populations are also increasing because of
warmer summers, therefore resulting in more competition for food. Are more of
them starving after giving birth or before aborting? My head hurts. Methinks
this is textbook “fake news.”
So, to
recap, global warming has been a boon to the reindeer population, but is also threatening to starve them into
extinction? Does this even make sense to the British Eco-illogical Society?
Also, I must point out, where I live,
rain melts ice. And, wouldn’t there
be more food the longer it stays warmer in the Arctic region? Additionally,
essentially all species go through natural population cycles. When populations
are high, the competition for food eventually does lead to more starvation and/or fewer births, returning the
ecosystem to its equilibrium, even in less harsh environments.
Global
warming is killing off species. Global warming is causing sea levels to rise,
which may result in humans having webbed feet someday. Climate change is
responsible for changing weather patterns (duh!). Global warming is causing
more severe rainstorms and flooding. Oh, and also drought on an unprecedented
scale! And poverty, famine, racism, terrorism, disenfranchisement, etc., etc.,
etc., etc., etc., etc., etc.
Is
there anything “bad” happening on the planet that experts don’t blame on global warming?
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