A new research carried out by scientists at the Universities of Ottawa and Calgary claims that global warming is killing bumblebees. The climate change is affecting the habitats of the bumblebees and making them shrink in size. The bumblebees in Europe and North America are at risk of disappearing.
Researchers have said that other species may adapt to the change in climate to a certain level and can expand their homes, but the conditions in the climate change didn’t allow the bumblebees to expand their homes as well. The worker insects did not expand to the north as it was expected. Many species in the wild are compelled to head to the North Pole. However, the bumblebees are losing ground really fast in the south.
Professor Laurence Packer from the York University and an expert in bumblebees as well as one of the co-authors of the research said that he is very concerned regarding how the change in climate will affect numerous other species. He was very shocked by the discovery. Packer said that he did expect the bumblebees to decline in some way but not in such huge numbers. He also added that the fact that the bumblebees are not heading north is incredibly concerning.
Jeremy Herr from the University of Ottawa and the lead author of the study said that we should imagine a vice, and in the middle of that vice the bumblebee habitat. As the climate changes and warms up, the bumblebees are being crushed by the climate vice as it compresses their homes. The result of this is the rapid decline of the pollinators on every continent. These effects are not the causes of habitat loss or pesticides. It seems that it’s simply too warm for the bees.
The bees are crucial pollinators so this means that they are an important piece in the ecological puzzle. The quick decline in the population of bumblebees will eventually lead to a shortage in food for humans. Paul Galpern, a co-author of the study and an Assistant Professor of Landscape Ecology in the Faculty of Environmental Design at the University of Calgary said that the bumblebees play a very important part not only for the crops but for every type of plant in nature. They have a crucial part in our ecosystem as they help the plants create fruits and seeds and by doing so they provide not just food but homes for other species of animals too.
Image Source: todayifoundout.com
tomgnh says
“vise.”
Robbins Mitchell says
Well,I don’t know about the bees….but “global warming” is killing me..with all the laughable quotes and hysterical eco-nazi panty wetting….it’s knocking me dead !!
douginjax says
Isn’t it curious that honey bees that were A-OK in Florida, cannot now survive in Michigan, where even warmists must admit it’s not warmer than Florida has been in the last 10,000 years.
Are there any scientists left?
tomgnh says
Let’s what else is going on- water rationing in California, Sao Paulo, Taiwan, South Africa…. China says 70+% of its glaciers are gone….
Yep- laughable.