Here’s an interesting article that discusses species’ vulnerability to climate change, the rate at which it is likely to happen and the debate going on in science community about how species’ vulnerability should be measured. It is important to note though that they are not debating that it is likely that extinction will happen, rather they are debating how, when and to what species.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/05/science/earth/05climate.html
Interesting article! However, I fear that it will take time for the ‘common folk’ of our society that even the extinction of butterflies can impact our environment. I know we’ve known about polar bears, but as the article stated, they have learned to adapt. I fear that society will think that every specie will simply adapt and all will be fine. Now if it were puppies? I think we would have a completely different response and perhaps a little more ACTION in regards to environmental policy.
It seems to me that the most important thing to understand about this article is that the group looked at butterflies as a model of extinction to determine as Alli said how, when, and to what species. The scientific community has most definitely moved on from figuring out if extinction of species will occur, but rather when and towards preventative measures.
It is really sad that we only know of a few of the species that co-exist on this planet with us, and instead of encouraging knowledge and curiosity about these other unidentified species, we are most likely killing them off and will continue to do so with the impacts associated with climate change.
Most definitely, Danya! I just fear that until we start experiencing the extinction of larger animals, our society will not respond
Nevertheless, the more education, the better. Hopefully with the production of similar articles, our society will see that extinction of any specie is a detriment to our environment. On a different note, I am interested to see how animals adapt in future years. Animals are incredibly bright and I am interested to see how they respond to climate change.
I had a feeling the polar bear would be a main feature of this article, but it still took a backseat to other animals that are threatened. I personally wasn’t aware of the circumstance facing the butterfly and it was refreshing to see a different symbol of animal preservation. I thought it was silly to assume that animals can be like humans and just “adapt” to changes in their habitat and food supply. There is a fragile ecosystem that must be taken into consideration that once one food supply runs out, another will be subject to become dinner food.