Nature feels the heat: as climate goes awry, wildlife goes away

摘要

There comes a pivotal moment before the storm, when the dead air gives way to the trembling of leaves in a sudden breeze, and thunder rumbles in the distance. One does not have to stand until drenched in the ensuing downpour or jolted by the crack oflightning to know the time has come to take cover. It has now been a century since scientists observing Earth's atmosphere began recognizing certain ominous rumblings. They have since been forecasting the plant's climate -- in suspicious concert with human activities -- as likely headed for upheaval, with many forms of life to suffer the consequences. They have warned that ice would melt, seas would rise and seasons would shift, stranding native plants and animals in foreign environs. As the latest meteorological analyses now confirm the world's climate changing by unsettling degrees, life forms, too, from tropical frogs to Arctic bears, are sending signals of their own that the forewarned storm is imminent.