Spring
came in February. Winter followed in March. What April will bring is anyone’s
guess.
This
winter’s wild weather swings confirm for many that our climate is changing
drastically. Probably, but it is not quite that simple.
Climate
change can’t be determined by a several weeks of unusually warm temperatures in
February and far below freezing temperatures on the first official days of
spring.
Climate
and weather are distinctly different. Weather is what you see and feel when you
step outside today. Climate is the average of weather patterns over a long
period of time – years, not days, weeks or even months.
One
way to get better informed about climate change is to look at how our
environment and its biodiversity are changing. An interesting place to look for
that change is in a forest.
The
forest I know best has undergone significant change in recent times. Above
normal rainfall has softened soils, weakening tree root grips and making them
more susceptible to wind damage.
Winds
have become more frequent and stronger. Healthy oaks clinging to thin soils on
rocky ridges have been upended.
Even
in the more protected areas I can find hearty evergreens, birches and poplars
toppled or bent over by unusually strong winds.
A
bigger worry for the forest is non-native invasive bugs bringing diseases. Beech
bark disease is moving through Ontario, attacking and killing mature beech
trees whose nuts are an important food source for bears. Some experts believe
beech bark disease could wipe out beech trees in Haliburton and Muskoka.
Emerald
ash borers from Asia have devastated ash populations in southern Ontario and
are moving north. Ash tree species are on the brink of extinction.
Ticks
carrying Lyme disease also are spreading into forests they have not occupied
before. There were 987 Canadian cases of Lyme disease reported in 2016, a huge
increase from the 144 reported in 2009.
Ontario’s
climate is becoming wetter and warmer with temperatures expected to increase
more, especially in northern areas. The
warming is creating longer growing seasons that are changing the life patterns
of some plants, animals and insects.
For
instance, a new species of flying squirrel is believed to be the result of
warming temperatures in Ontario. Warmer temperatures are expanding the range of
the southern flying squirrel, moving it further into the range of the larger
northern flying squirrel. The two species have been mating, creating a hybrid.
Meanwhile,
Whiskey Jack (Gray Jay) populations have declined as much as 50 per cent in the
last 40 years, notably in Algonquin Park, which is the southern limit of their
range. These jays cache winter food supplies in tree bark and warmer autumns
and warm bursts in winter can spoil their food caches and are believed to be
one factor in their decline.
Warmer
temperatures are changing bird migration patterns and bird ranges. Some birds
are moving north, or to higher elevations, to keep within their preferred
temperature ranges.
The
forest has much to tell about climate change and bird populations. The first
thing you notice in many forests is the scarcity of birds. Sight and sound of
birds in the forest have been declining at an alarming rate.
A
National Audubon Society study has found that one third of North America’s
wintering bird populations have declined since 1966. That follows another study
that says one-third of all North American bird species face extinction.
Most
of us don’t need studies and statistics to tell us that bird populations are
declining. We simply have to walk into the forest, or step out into our own
back yards. The birds just are not there in the numbers we used to see.
Concerns
about changing climate go beyond birds and dying trees, however. Everything in
nature is connected, including the all powerful and domineering human species. Something changes and there are consequences
for other things.
So
the debate now should not be about whether climate change is real, how severe
or mild it might be, or what causes it. The discussion should centre on the
change now seen in the environment and its biodiversity and what, if anything,
we can do about that.
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