Question

Summers are becoming hotter with each passing year. Write a description of one such very hot day. What did you see and hear as you walked outside ? 

How were birds and animals affected ? 

Answer 1

Our climate is changing, both naturally and due to human exploitation. There is already indisputable proof that climate change and global warming affect the distribution and behaviour of animals, birds, and plants. Humans are great sufferers. Unless greenhouse gas emissions are severely reduced, climate change could cause a quarter of land animals, birdlife, and plants to become extinct. 

Climate variability and change impact birdlife and animals in several ways; birds lay eggs earlier in the year than usual, plants bloom earlier, and mammals come out of hibernation sooner. The distribution of animals is also impacted, with many species moving closer to the poles in response to the rise in global temperatures. Birds migrate and arrive at their nesting grounds earlier, and the nesting grounds they move to are not as far away as they used to be. In some countries, the birds don’t even leave any more, as the climate is suitable all year round. 

Sea turtles could lose their nesting beaches if sea levels rose 50 cm; during the nesting season, turtles use over 30% of Caribbean beaches. The already endangered Mediterranean monk seals need beaches to raise their pups. A rising sea level could damage shallow coastal areas used annually by whales and dolphins, which require shallow, gentle waters to rear their small calves. 

Humans have already destroyed many of the natural migrations of animals.

Fences stop the migratory journeys of wildebeests in several African countries. Changing rainfall patterns are causing dams to be erected in some areas of our planet. This ignores the fact that human-caused sea level rise poses a threat to migratory fish, mammals, and water birds that depend on wetland habitats for migration and breeding. On the other side of the coin, the atmosphere is sucking moisture from the land at a greater rate than ever before, causing severe droughts in many countries, which are now facing reduced crop production and significant drinking water shortages. 

Although it is thought that no species has yet become extinct exclusively because of climate change, many migratory and non-migratory species are expected to become extinct shortly.