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Packs of Norway lemmings aren’t necessarily headed off a cliff, but climate change in a part of that country certainly seems to have stifled population spikes of the oft-prolific creature in recent decades.
Lemmings are famed for their population booms: Occasionally, across small regions, their numbers can briefly swell a hundredfold. Dramatic increases of the rodents typically occur every three to five years, says Nils Christian Stenseth, an evolutionary ecologist at the University of Oslo in Norway.
But at one site in south-central Norway, lemming populations haven’t spiked in such a way since 1994, he notes. In the Nov. 6 Nature, Stenseth and his colleagues suggest that climate change has interrupted the normal boom-and-bust cycle of lemming populations.
Norway lemmings, Lemmus lemmus, are about half the size of a guinea pig and live in nests beneath the snow during the winter months. When the snowpack is light and fluffy, warmth from the ground melts small spaces under the snow that the lemmings use to forage for sedges, grasses and mosses without being exposed to predators. But in recent years, warmer winter temperatures have rendered the snow less fluffy. That, in turn, has made the snow more likely to melt and refreeze at ground level, coating the ground with ice and making life more difficult for lemmings.
Climate change is affecting the entire ecosystem of the region that Stenseth and his colleagues studied, the researchers contend. With the recent lack of population booms among lemmings, predators such as arctic foxes and snowy owls have turned their attention to other prey, including ground-nesting birds such as ptarmigan and grouse, whose numbers have declined.
“When you significantly affect the numbers of one species like this, it’s bound to have consequences,” says Tim Coulson, an ecologist at Imperial College London in Ascot, England. Although the recent change in lemming population cycles largely has no apparent effect on humans, “it’s a warning sign of effects that global warming could have on other species,” he notes.
Because scientists understand remarkably little about many species interactions within an ecosystem, the new findings illustrate the importance of long-term studies of animal and plant populations, he adds.
Found in: Climate Change and Life
- Susan Milius, 2008. Just ain't natural: Epic data review blames climate change for changes. Science News 173 (May 14). [Go to]
- Sid Perkins, 2004. Big Thaw Coming: Climate change may slam Arctic. Science News 165 (May 29):339. [Go to]
- Kausrud, K.L., … and N.Chr. Stenseth. 2008. Linking climate change to lemming cycles. Nature 456(Nov. 5):93.
- Coulson, T., and A. Malo. Case of the absent lemmings. Nature 456(Nov. 5):43.
Truth Seeker, you are actually a liar. I know that because you didn't bother to link to ANY peer reviewed works to support your claims, which any competent scientist would have done immediately.
It appears we've entered a multi-decade period of cooling, if cooling restores the boom and bust cycle, will that be reported as good news for lemmings? When the first new boom is followed by a boom in predators is follwed by the bust, what will happen to the population of ground nesting birds when hungry predators can't find enough lemmings?
"Because scientists understand remarkably little about many species interactions within an ecosystem, the new findings illustrate the importance of long-term studies of animal and plant populations, he adds."
Whenever there is an unexplained change in an animal population, Warm Mongers ascribe the change to the effects of global warming. Bat White-Nose Syndrome is another example of this.
As we advance our knowledge of the natural world around us, we will make more informed decisions as to our place in the ecosystem, and how we affect it. Until we can study the lemming population during a cooling period (which appears to be happening now), we cannot ascribe the population changes to warming, as opposed to an unrelated issue such as disease.
We are about to embark on a futile effort to reduce CO2 that will have no effect on temperatures. "Buy in haste, repent at leisure" is the perfect description of the actions that the global warming alarmists would have us take. The idea that we are at the tipping point cannot be defended with the knowledge we have today.
Global warming proponents rely on alarmism to maintain a steady flow of research grants and financial contributions, but none of the apocalyptic visions of global warming are coming to pass.
Based on real empirical data, not computer simulations, it's highly unlikely that the Antarctic ice cap will melt, nor will the Greenland ice cap slide into the sea and cause a 7 meter rise in sea levels, as alarmists claim will happen ad nauseam.
In spite of recent claims that the Antarctic is warming, in actuality the Antarctic has shown no general warming trend in the past three decades, whether the data comes from ground station records, satellites, or weather balloons, nor is there any evidence of diminishing sea ice extent. In 2007, the Antarctic winter sea ice maximum was at an all-time high and 2008 levels have been consistent with the long-term average.
As for the Arctic, a recent NASA study found the recent warming was probably due to changed ocean currents carrying greater amounts of warm water into the Arctic basin from the Pacific and Atlantic.
Copious empirical data combined with mathematics and the employment of the scientific method has proven that CO2 cannot catastrophically warm the planet, nor has CO2 caused any significant warming. Real data doesn't lie (only alarmists do): The slight warming of the past century is a continuation of the natural warming since the end of the Little Ice Age. Furthermore, there has been no net warming since 1998, and in fact, the planet is currently experiencing a global cooling trend, something the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) didn't predict would happen. If the IPCC couldn't predict this current cooling trend, how can we rely on them to make predictions of climate 30, 50, or 100 years into the future based on computer simulations?
Anthropogenic global warming is a lie. Oppose any carbon emissions legislation or carbon cap-and-trade schemes that generate high profits for a few while causing millions to suffer due to soaring energy prices.
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