Natural and Sustainable

I mentioned before on September 11 about some of the many species that are disappearing due to the rising temperatures and the warming world around these particular animals and breeds. The rise in temperatures in the Rocky Mountains will make it harder for certain species to migrate in a timely fashion in order to survive. Here are some species that will die off slowly if global change is not made soon.

• American Pika: This mammal survives in the Rockies and the Sierra areas and can not tolerate heat and this mammal is running out of high-elevation areas in order to survive. Because of global warming, this little animal could be the first to be extinct because of global warming. In the past 40 years, the pika population in the Great Basin (the area between the Rockies and the Sierra) have disappeared completely. And as the temperatures raise so will they existence in other areas as well.

• Wolverine: The rise in temperatures on this planet is causing this mammal to become an animal of the past. Their sanctuary is in the Rocky Mountains as well with the American Pika and they depend on deep snow pack to survive. They are one of the many mammals that are being affected by global climate change and they depend on wide open spaces in order to survive. As winters become milder, this mammal will soon become a thing of the past.

• Marmot: This animal is coming out of hibernation 38 days earlier in the spring than it did 23 years ago. When it does wake up, it is meet with more snow cover, about 22 inches deeper, and in turn has lack of food and can be forced back into hibernation. When it rises the second time from hibernation is burns muscles this time instead of fat, which makes it susceptible to starvation.

• Thrush: This song bird migrates from the Caribbean to the northern Appalachians. As global warming rises, so does the choice in their nesting trees, the conifer trees. A temperature increase of 1.5 to 6.3 degrees by 2100 could thin out the balsam trees in New England by 96 percent as some hardwoods like beeches and yellow birches crowd out their nesting trees one by one.

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Boundary waters are disappearing as well. One by one. The Minnesota North Woods could go up in smoke if the Boundary Waters diminish. If this trend continues, more and more trees will disappear. To find out more, click here.