Climate change is interfering with internal clocks of birds, and humans should take heed

Vancouver Sun ^ | August 23, 2018 | by Larry Pynn

[Oldeconomybuyer]

When birds sing outside your window at dawn, they’re responding to internal clocks set to daily and annual rhythms.

But what happens when climate change interferes with these clocks, putting the survival of species, potentially even humans, at risk?

“Biological clocks — daily and annual timing — is found in every organism, from gut bacteria to worms, algae, plants, and all of the animals,” Vincent Cassone, a professor and chair of the department of biology at the University of Kentucky, said.

“There’ll be winners and losers,” said Cassone, noting this is also a cautionary tale for human survival. “Climatic changes that we may see in the migratory patterns of birds … those are canaries in a coal mine. When those start changing, we need to know what’s changing for us.”

Birds that travel on vast northern migrations with short breeding periods could be at risk. For ocean-ranging pelagic birds, their food sources might have moved to another location.

Another threat is the spread of avian malaria from tropical areas under a climate-change scenario, “marching to the poles, away from the equatorial regions,” Cassone said.

“Fifty years from now, there’ll be huge climatic changes,” he concluded. “Some of the species that live in Canada, especially in the northern latitudes, will be squeezed and probably pushed to extinction.

“It’ll be different. But there will be life.”

[Oldeconomybuyer]

[madison10]

Naw, it is the stupid windmills...

[HarleyD]

I noticed my alarm clock was set 30 minutes earlier than normal. Now I know what to blame.

[PeteB570]

Wonder how their internal clocks have changed from 20,000 years ago?

[bert]

Internal clocks are timed with the earth’s axis tilt and the length of the day

Climate is irrelevant in the short term say 5,000 years.

[z3n]

STOOOOPIIIDDD!

Were the birds around when this happened?
Climate change happens!

[freedumb2003]

“Fifty years from now, there’ll be huge climatic changes,” he concluded. “Some of the species that live in Canada, especially in the northern latitudes, will be squeezed and probably pushed to extinction.

I see they learned from al gore to push out their predictions wild-ass guesses beyond the lifespan of most of the audience.

[I want the USA back]

Keep trying. Maybe one day you’ll find something convincing.

[beethovenfan]

Bullshit!

[bgill]

[Revolutionary]

Give them watches. Or better yet; just let them sleep in. They had a hard day.

[crusher2013]

_____________ Climate Change...

Give us your money.

[stormhill]

Climate change will cause a rise of one degree in any particular region resulting in mass extinction, dogs mating with cats, destruction of humanity and the end of the world. Seasonal variance or traveling from, say, Montreal to Quito results in a 100-degree shift and...nothing happens.

Riiiight...

[G Larry]

Yes!

Birds confuse the windmills with the hands of a clock and get all confused.....

[blueunicorn6]

Gut bacteria have biological clocks?

Well, that explains that order from COSTCO for a million little batteries.

[COBOL2Java]

They'll have their revenge!

[madison10]

😁 There are not enough windmills to do anything except whack the birds if they get too close.

[Sacajaweau]

Same damn birds as last year....tweeting at 4 am....just as they always have in summertime.

[Sirius Lee]

Climate Change knocked over my trash barrel this morning!

[IronJack]

“Might.”. “Could.”. “Possibly.”.

I’ve seen more certainty on a racetrack tip sheet.