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The point of climate change is precisely that it changes the conditions in virtually all our habitats. The species in those habitats, being largely adapted to t
by virgildotcodes 3y ago
The point of climate change is precisely that it changes the conditions in virtually all our habitats. The species in those habitats, being largely adapted to their existing range of conditions, may not be able to adapt to those rapidly changing conditions, and as a result large parts of those ecosystems collapse.
Just look at any prior major climate change event, for example the Permian extinction, thought to be triggered by major volcanic eruptions causing severe climate change - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permian–Triassic_extinction_event https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permian–Triassic_extinction_...
When you’re talking about something that wipes out 70% of terrestrial vertebrates and 80% of marine species, you can understand how the concept of “preserving biologically diverse habitats” is incompatible.
- LiquidPolymer 3y agoNot long ago I did a story about the Appalachian salamander which is a threatened species within its range. It lives in the higher elevations of the Smokey and Appalachian mountains. As the climate warms, these salamanders are moving up slope to adapt. But now they are out of elevation. They are already inhabiting the top of the forested mountains and have nowhere else to go if warming trends continue.
- QuantumG 3y agoWhy does it matter if other birds can adapt? We got lots of different types of birds. It's awesome. Maybe we'll get new types of birds! Why does "this particular variation is going extinct" matter?
- da39a3ee 3y agoNice try but that argument doesn't work: predicted speed of change to planet under climate change is much much greater than under previously seen natural changes to habitats.
- QuantumG 3y agoYeah so? I think you're suffering from geneticism. The idea that we only change through inherited traits and mutations over geological time periods is ancient nonsense compared to what we know about epigenetics now. The irony is Jean Baptiste Lamarck had it closer than anyone. Animals genetically adapt to new environments in their own lifetimes and that includes making changes to the DNA. We can also help them to adapt. The idea that this is dismissive of the problem is nonsense. It's the solution.
- da39a3ee 3y agoActually, no, I have a PhD, and postdoc in this area. You, on the other hand, have read too much pop science about epigenetics. Surely you know that what sells pop science is novelty, so claiming that "Darwin was wrong because epigenetics" is a great commercial strategy. Sounds like it worked on you?
- QuantumG 3y agoHave you read the field lately? Just how long ago was your molecular biology degree? Mine was 7 years ago and I've been reading every week since then. You should try to keep up.
- 0xdde 3y agoThis is so bizarrely flippant. We are seeing massive declines in bird populations. It is not just a matter of a few variations going extinct and new types of birds magically appearing within our lifetimes.
- da39a3ee 3y agoThe obsession with climate change has produced a generation who think that any tree species is ok if it replenishes carbon. People who don't understand that some natural habitats are incomparably more important for birds than secondary forest and reforestation efforts.