5 ms·
this comments are like bingo for climate science misunderstanding evolution doesn't happen on time scales of 100 years +1.1 avg temperature implies much large
by porb121 5y ago
this comments are like bingo for climate science misunderstanding
evolution doesn't happen on time scales of 100 years
+1.1 avg temperature implies much larger localized changes
- tejtm 5y agoEvolution happens on the time scale of "birth" to reproductive age for the organism in question. I know of no corporeal entity still considered adolescent after a century. I have never even worked with an evolutionary biologist but the concept of "punctuated equilibrium" has been around for quite a while. [] my sloppy use of "birth" includes cells budding, seeds sprouting and the rest of the messy details. [] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punctuated_equilibrium https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punctuated_equilibrium
- cronix 5y agoExtremely out of my league here, but it seems logical to me that if there is a mutation, it only initially happens in a single organism. Like a single specific bear might mutate, but certainly not all of them at the same time. That organism then needs to mature (if not already) and reproduce to spread the new mutation. It seems it would take several generations of successful breeding and on top of that successful passing on of the mutated gene to have the mutation actually spread beyond just the initial one. Reproduction rate of the organism would also play a huge factor I'd imagine, like a mouse can have hundreds of offspring in a single year due to a 21 day gestation period compared to a human.
- Zababa 5y ago> evolution doesn't happen on time scales of 100 years Evolution may not, but selection may happen on that time scale, especially for animals that live short lives.
- andi999 5y agoWhat is the difference between selection and evolution?
- AlotOfReading 5y agoSelection is a process by which evolution works, so this is a false distinction. Modern definitions of evolution are usually something along the lines of changes in a population over time. There's no inherent time scale over which those changes can be observed, except for that of the generation time itself.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- dvt 5y ago> evolution doesn't happen on time scales of 100 years Phenotypic selection does happen on this timescale. Industrial melanism[1] has been pretty well studied. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_melanism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_melanism
- hh3k0 5y agoYeah – and on top of that, the commenting user seems to underestimate the gravity of "only" a few degrees: > The study also calculates extinction risks at different warming levels. It finds that 2% of endemic species are at risk of extinction if warming is limited to 1.5C, and 4% are at risk at 2C. However, the risk rises to 20% for land-based ecosystems, and to 32% in marine ecosystems if warming hits 3C. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/04/climate-change-will-hit-endemic-plants-and-animals-the-hardest-study-warns https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/04/climate-change-will-h...
- patcon 5y agoAgreed. Yes, some animals will handle it, and we'll hold them up as examples. But the crash in diversity from all those who don't is tragic. The genetic diversity that is the bounty of millions of years of iteration and "learning" in ecological systems is a huge loss to our planet's resources and (by proxy) our own future wealth.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]