Climate change seriously threatens bird species across Canada and the United States according to a new groundbreaking report released by Nature Canada’s partner organization, the Audubon Society. The report concludes that half of all birds studied could see their populations drop dramatically on account of climate change.
Paul Jorgenson, Nature Canada’s Senior Communications Manager speaks with Banff Centre Radio about the concerning phenomena.
“There are a few different things that are happening. One is that species are seeing their habitat range just outright decline. It’s contracting by X square kilometres and now, it’s going to be less than that," says Jorgenson. “But another thing that is happening, which most people have not done a lot of research on but is just as bad, is that we are seeing habitats shift as well."
"Even if you had a species whose habitat didn’t decrease too much, it shifted to a new place. That is still a big problem for that species [because] if the new habitat range is right in the middle of a big urban area or the great northern boreal forest and that species doesn’t live well in the boreal forest, then that species can still potentially be wiped out.
Learn more about how climate change is threatening bird species on Nature Canada’s website (www.naturecanada.ca):
http://naturecanada.ca/news/blog/climate-change-impacting-birds-interview-on-banff-centre-radio