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The effects of a warmer world are visible in animals’ bodies

economist.com

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Re: The effects of a warmer world are visible in animals’ bodies

#11

Post by tejtm »

porb121 wrote: post #4
yosito wrote: post #3

Animals bodies evolve to adapt to changes in the environment. This is nothing new. It's literally the process that has driven life forward since life first appeared. And given that the planet has so far only warmed an average of 1.1 degrees celcius due to climate change, isn't it a bit overzealous to blame animals' adaptation on climate change?

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

Evolution 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

Re: The effects of a warmer world are visible in animals’ bodies

#12

Post by Zababa »

porb121 wrote: post #4
yosito wrote: post #3

Animals bodies evolve to adapt to changes in the environment. This is nothing new. It's literally the process that has driven life forward since life first appeared. And given that the planet has so far only warmed an average of 1.1 degrees celcius due to climate change, isn't it a bit overzealous to blame animals' adaptation on climate change?

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

> 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.

Re: The effects of a warmer world are visible in animals’ bodies

#13

Post by dvt »

porb121 wrote: post #4
yosito wrote: post #3

Animals bodies evolve to adapt to changes in the environment. This is nothing new. It's literally the process that has driven life forward since life first appeared. And given that the planet has so far only warmed an average of 1.1 degrees celcius due to climate change, isn't it a bit overzealous to blame animals' adaptation on climate change?

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

> 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

Re: The effects of a warmer world are visible in animals’ bodies

#14

Post by ceejayoz »

yosito wrote: post #3

Animals bodies evolve to adapt to changes in the environment. This is nothing new. It's literally the process that has driven life forward since life first appeared. And given that the planet has so far only warmed an average of 1.1 degrees celcius due to climate change, isn't it a bit overzealous to blame animals' adaptation on climate change?

> And given that the planet has so far only warmed an average of 1.1 degrees celcius due to climate change, isn't it a bit overzealous to blame animals' adaptation on climate change?

The worldwide average doesn't really tell the full story, because there can be significant local extremes that are far greater.

See, for example, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lytton,_British_Columbia, a town that broke the all-time temperature record for Canada and then burned to the ground the next day.

Re: The effects of a warmer world are visible in animals’ bodies

#15

Post by hh3k0 »

porb121 wrote: post #4
yosito wrote: post #3

Animals bodies evolve to adapt to changes in the environment. This is nothing new. It's literally the process that has driven life forward since life first appeared. And given that the planet has so far only warmed an average of 1.1 degrees celcius due to climate change, isn't it a bit overzealous to blame animals' adaptation on climate change?

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

Yeah – 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-h...

Re: The effects of a warmer world are visible in animals’ bodies

#17

Post by pineaux »

jonplackett wrote: post #6

I can only read the first part because of the paywall. How do they know that a bigger beak is cause by higher temperatures? What’s the cause / effect there? NB. just curious / not a climate denier!

No paywall: https://archive.is/ozASI

Re: The effects of a warmer world are visible in animals’ bodies

#18

Post by dryd »

Unfortunately the title makes a small logical leap.

From the article: "Her team combined data from different species in different places. Since they have little in common apart from living on a warming planet, she says, climate change is the most plausible explanation."

While climate change may indeed be the most plausible explanation, this headline seems to transform from "most plausible" into a causal link.

Re: The effects of a warmer world are visible in animals’ bodies

#19

Post by dryd »

ScaryBashGhost wrote: post #2

https://archive.is/ozASI Does anyone else find the Economist's lack of bylines and complete author anonymity to be off-putting? It's scary how much influence they have and how no one seems to mind that they don't feel comfortable putting their names on the stuff the advocate for and report on. Great article!

I personally like it. They comment their rationale for this choice here, under "Author anonymity": https://www.economist.com/frequently-asked-questions

Re: The effects of a warmer world are visible in animals’ bodies

#20

Post by [deleted] »

ceejayoz wrote: post #14
yosito wrote: post #3

Animals bodies evolve to adapt to changes in the environment. This is nothing new. It's literally the process that has driven life forward since life first appeared. And given that the planet has so far only warmed an average of 1.1 degrees celcius due to climate change, isn't it a bit overzealous to blame animals' adaptation on climate change?

> And given that the planet has so far only warmed an average of 1.1 degrees celcius due to climate change, isn't it a bit overzealous to blame animals' adaptation on climate change? The worldwide average doesn't really tell the full story, because there can be significant local extremes that are far greater. See, for example, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lytton,_British_Columbia , a town that broke the all-time tem…

[deleted]
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