{"id":6517,"date":"2015-12-07T08:12:28","date_gmt":"2015-12-07T08:12:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/?p=6517"},"modified":"2015-12-07T08:12:28","modified_gmt":"2015-12-07T08:12:28","slug":"climate-change-migration-and-the-new-wild","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/2015\/12\/07\/climate-change-migration-and-the-new-wild\/","title":{"rendered":"Climate Change, Migration and the new Wild"},"content":{"rendered":"

The current migration of people into Europe from North Africa, the Middle East, and farther afield because of war and other social turmoil has already been linked to climate change\u00a0\u2013 not only\u00a0as a contributor to the problems of Syria<\/a>, but also in\u00a0the sense that what we are seeing now is a harbinger of things to come as the world warms further.<\/p>\n

This idea applies not just to people, but to nature more generally, and a new report<\/a> from the RSPB: The Nature of Climate Change \u2013 Europe's wildlife at risk<\/em>\u00a0explores the issues. \u00a0This is CEO Mike Clarke's Introduction:<\/p>\n

We are at a point in recent geological history where the rate of human-induced climate change will far outstrip the ability of species to adapt successfully, especially when the resilience of nature has been reduced by habitat loss, non-native species introductions and over-exploitation. The disruption to the web of life is a threat not just to wildlife, but to the lives of people around the world.<\/em><\/p>\n

This report presents the evidence that wildlife in the UK and beyond is already facing a more challenging time due to the climate change that has occurred; and that things are, for the most part, only likely<\/em>\u00a0to get worse. Higher rainfall will likely have a detrimental effect on bearded tits, capercaillie and shags for example, and warmer temperatures in southern Europe will result in habitat loss for Dartford warblers. Moreover, the evidence points to global scale patterns of change, such as the collapse in kittiwake populations linked to sea surface temperatures and the timing of plankton blooms. Of course it\u2019s not all bad news, and we\u2019ve already seen exciting new species colonise the UK and begin breeding here, some of them on our very own RSPB reserves. Birds like little egrets, black-winged stilts and little bitterns are spectacular and enticing new arrivals.<\/em><\/p>\n

But we have to face up to the fact that in general the changes to our climate will be challenging for wildlife. One of the most important conclusions of this report is that protected areas and nature reserves will be vital in the future for helping wildlife to cope with climate change. This makes it even more important<\/em>\u00a0that we ensure EU decision makers leave the Birds and Habitats Directives intact and that they are\u00a0<\/em>better implemented.<\/em><\/p>\n

Protecting wildlife from these threats means each country, in Europe and in the UK, playing an active role in mitigating carbon emissions. We need a clear policy direction to keep rolling out renewable energy that doesn\u2019t harm nature, and to invest more in ways that benefit the climate and help nature and people to adapt, such as by restoring our upland peatlands.<\/em><\/p>\n

Nature is demonstrating that we\u2019re already into the world of change. This report has a clear message \u2013 we need to act, and fast, to reduce our greenhouse gas pollution and to face up to the impacts we\u2019re already living with. Then we can make better homes for nature, and ourselves.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This post is not a review of the report, that will come later. \u00a0Rather, it's a call to be less precious about the idea of \"native\", and more welcoming of nature's immigrants. \u00a0The RSPB reports puts it like this:<\/p>\n

\"The wildlife we typically accept as being part of our \u201cnative\u201d flora and fauna is moving, and new species\u00a0are arriving as colonists, partly driven by climate change. The assemblage of species we consider \u201cnative\u201d is therefore in a state of flux. We cannot arrest the changes, so to aid adaptation it will be important to enable species to colonise new areas via provision of sufficient, suitably-protected habitat, in areas that will become more climatically suitable over time ...\"<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

... although I do not expect everyone to agree.<\/p>\n

But if they don't, then maybe Fred Pearce's book,\u00a0The New Wild: Why Invasive Species Will be Nature's Salvation<\/em> should be on their reading list. \u00a0Pearce argues that keeping out alien species looks increasingly flawed and that we should celebrate the dynamism of alien species and the novel ecosystems they create. \u00a0Further, in an era of climate change and widespread ecological damage, we should be\u00a0finding ways to help nature regenerate. \u00a0Pearce thinks that embracing the 'new wild' is our best chance.<\/p>\n

By happy chance, the Economist<\/a> had an article on a related\u00a0theme last week: Invasive Species \u2013 day of the triffids. \u00a0<\/em>This (which doesn't mention climate) argues for a measured and pragmatic approach to alien species. \u00a0The article says that the\u00a0database of such\u00a0species, managed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, now lists 3,163 plants and 820 animals, and that the\u00a0EU is poised to approve a list of 37 plant and animal species that member-states must eradicate if possible. \u00a0But in the UK, the Economist says that\u00a0Chris Thomas, a biologist at the University of York, has calculated that of the country\u2019s 677 most widespread plant species, 68 were introduced by humans before 1500 and another 56 after that date. \u00a0And not one of these introduced species ranks among the 50 most widespread plants in the country.<\/p>\n

Even Himalayan balsam, which is every purist's hate plant is so rare that it barely even makes the list. \u00a0Peace and love then \u2013 though I'm not sure that applies to mink \u2013 or triffids.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The current migration of people into Europe from North Africa, the Middle East, and farther afield because of war and other social turmoil has already been linked to climate change\u00a0\u2013 not only\u00a0as a contributor to the problems of Syria, but...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":237,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-comment","category-new-publications"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6517","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/237"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6517"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6517\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}