Footprints on the Mountainside

Nairobi, Kenya – A new report released today by WWF finds a clear and escalating pattern of climate change impacts on bird species around the world, suggesting a trend towards a major bird extinction from global warming.

The report, Bird Species and Climate Change, reviews more than 200 scientific articles on birds in every continent to build up a global picture of climate change impacts.

“Robust scientific evidence shows that climate change is now affecting birds’ behaviour,” said Dr Karl Mallon, Scientific Director at Climate Risk Pty Ltd and one of the authors of the report. “We are seeing migratory birds failing to migrate, and climate change pushing increasing numbers of birds out of synchrony with key elements of their ecosystems.”

The report, prepared by international climate change specialists, identifies groups of birds at high risk from climate change: migratory, mountain, island, wetland, Arctic, Antarctic and seabirds. While bird species that can move and adapt easily to different habitat are expected to continue to do well, bird species that thrive only in a narrow environmental range are expected to decline, and to be outnumbered by invasive species.

The report also shows that birds suffer from climate change effects in every part of the globe. Scientists have found declines of up to 90 per cent in some bird populations, as well as total and unprecedented reproductive failure in others.

Scientists also analyzed available projections of future impacts, including bird species extinction. They found that bird extinction rates could be as high as 38 per cent in Europe, and 72 per cent in northeastern Australia, if global warming exceeds 2ºC above pre-industrial levels (currently it is 0.8ºC above).

“Birds have long been used as indicators of environmental change, and with this report we see they are the quintessential ‘canaries in the coal mine’ when it comes to climate change,” said Hans Verolme, Director of WWF’s Global Climate Change Programme.

“This report finds certain bird groups, such as seabirds and migratory birds, to be early, very sensitive, responders to current levels of climate change. Large-scale bird extinctions may occur sooner than we thought.”

If high rates of extinction are to be avoided, rapid and significant greenhouse gas emission cuts must be made, WWF says.

The global conservation organization also believes that the current approach to bird conservation, focused on protecting specific areas with a high bird diversity, will fail because climate change will force birds to shift into unprotected zones. A major change in approach to bird conservation is required, according to WWF.

END NOTES:

Examples of how climate change is affecting some bird species around the world:

Africa: The tawny eagle is an arid savanna raptor found in Asia and Africa. Small changes in precipitation predicted with climate change would likely result in the bird’s extinction in its African habitat in the southern Kalahari. If the mean annual precipitation stays the same but the inter-annual (year to year) variation increases by less than 10 per cent, the bird’s population will decrease considerably.

UK: The particular vulnerability of seabirds to climate change is illustrated by the unprecedented breeding crash of UK North Sea seabirds in 2004. The direct cause for the breeding failure of common guillemots, Arctic skuas, great skuas, kittiwakes, Arctic terns and other seabirds at Shetland and Orkney colonies was a shortage of small fish called sandeels, a crucial prey species for the seabirds. As a result, the nearly 7,000 pairs of great skuas in the Shetlands, for example, produced only a handful of chicks and starving adult birds ate their own young. Warming ocean waters and major shifts in species that underpin the ocean food web are thought to be behind the major sandeel decline.

USA: An unprecedented 2002 drought in southern California caused a 97 per cent breeding decline in four species: the rufous crowned sparrow, wrentit, spotted towhee and California towhee. Breeding success dropped from 2.37 fledglings per pair in 2001 (a normal year) to 0.07 fledglings per pair during 2002, the driest year in the region’s 150-year climate record. Precipitation in this region is expected to decrease and become more variable with global warming. Even slight increases in arid conditions would make these species vulnerable to extinction in a dry year.

Europe/Africa: Pied flycatcher birds and other species are shifting the timing of seasonal behaviors in response to climate change. Shifts like these can cause problems for birds if the plants and animals they interact with do not shift at the same rate. In Europe, earlier spring peaks in insect numbers mean that some pied flycatchers (long-distance migratory birds) no longer arrive from Africa in time to match food peaks with peak demands of their nestlings. This climate-change induced mismatch is strongly linked to 90 per cent declines in some European pied flycatcher populations over the past two decades.

Australia: Illustrating the vulnerability of mountain birds to climate change, the habitat of the golden bowerbird is predicted to shrink by 97.5 per cent with a future warming of 3°C and a 10 per cent decline in rainfall. The bird occupies cool habitat in Australia’s wet tropics on conical mountains surrounded by warmer lowlands. As temperatures rise, its suitable habitat will contract, and beyond 3˚C of warming is expected to completely disappear.

For more information, please contact:
Anshuman Atroley
Communications Manager
WWF-India
Tel:+91-11-4150 4797
E-mail:aatroley@wwfindia.net

© [14 Nov 2006] WWF. Some rights reserved. WWF-India

This is a memory from a long time ago. Way before I figured out the internet beyond checking mail. This is a time when I was a nomadic horsewoman in the Himalaya.
I was living in the high pastures of the Kullu valley with my herd of horses. We were in the pastures below the Hampta Pass - about a 6 hour walk from Manali. The winter had been rough, and we were just camping out in the high altitude pastures where we leave them for the summers, supplementing their diet with some grain, to help them catch on on their health a bit faster.

What a place to be in! We were camped in the meadows at Juara. Alpine meadows - the air is crisp, the water is crystal clear and flows right through the pasture. A few empty stone structures that would later become nomadic tea stalls plus camps of herb gatherers dotted the scene, with sheer black cliffs rising on both sides in stark contrast with the lush comfort of the place. A place straight from some fantasy tale. Once could believe some nature spirits living here, particularly on moonlit nights, when the scene goes black and white, with the moonlight strong enough in places to register come colour. What a life - the horses living free around me, prancing with their improving condition. Pye, my bitch, by my side and the sounds of the stream for company.

The days were pretty idle. Feeding the horses a couple of times a day was no pain - they used to come happily enough for the treat. Beyond that…. not much to do. Cooking, enjoying the paradise I was living in, early to bed, early to rise. Perhaps an occasional visit to Sethan - the last village on this route, and the only fully Buddhist village in the entire Kullu valley, where my god-family lived. A timeless idyll.

Occupation came in an unexpected way. A gaddi camp was passing by, planning to camp a little higher than the pasture we were in. I recognised the shepherd, and invited him for a cup of tea. When he saw me, he decided to camp near our camp itself.

Over a cup of tea, I realized why.

A filly of his, had been attacked by a bear a week ago, and had been hurt badly. Originally, believing that she would die anyway, he hadn’t taken her to a vet. But she hadn’t yet died. She was in a bad way, with her wounds infected, and was struggling to keep up with the moving camp, to follow her mother. This was creating a problem, as the mare used to keep waiting for her, and slowing the caravan.

I had already gained a solid reputation as an animal lover, and my animals were often a point of interet for local livestock owners for the glowing condition I used to maintain them in. Plus, I was gaining a reputation as an enthusiastic “unofficial vet” from the knowledge of animal medicine I used to gather for the well-being of my horses in a land where vets were not easily available, and often very far from the place of need.

He wanted me to take a look at the filly and see if there was any hope for her, as well as see if she could be put down, if there wasn’t. I refused flat out to put her down, as I am not of the opinion that animals should be killed when they are fighting to recover. Plus I lacked the kind of knowledge and equipment it would take to put her down. I agreed to take a look and see what I could do for her.

We went out into the pasture and unloaded his horses to set up camp and then look for the filly. She was in a bad way. She was sleeping, exhausted at the end of the pasture without even coming to join the herd, once she saw that they had halted.

We got her up and brought her up to my tent and tied her in front of it. I started to take a good look at her and see what it was that I was up against.

She was a beautiful, black filly. Three months old, lovely conformation - she would have made a fine mare when she grew up, if she survived this scenario. Her rump and neck was covered with deep gashes from the bear’s claws, and a week of neglect had allowed infection to settle in. Most of the gashes had developed pus, and a couple had maggots in them. My whole being recoiled at the thought of having to clean up this mess.

If I had to save this filly, I had to do it, no matter how repulsive it was. I felt a surge of anger at the shepherd for neglecting her treatment like that, and vented my fury in choice words, yelling at him and his wife for being callous to the very animals that made their livelihood possible.

The filly stood there shivering from the early morning air and her exhaustion.

I made the couple promise to rest in the pasture for at least a week, before I would touch the filly - it was pointless to begin something, if it wouldn’t be sustained. As an incentive, I praised the quality of the filly, and asserted that she would become a very valuable animal and bring him good money and work very well, if she was helped to recover. This seemed to strike a note of interest.

I had some anitbiotic injections in my animal first-aid kit. I gave her a shot. She hardly noticed. Then I knew, that I had to get over my nausea and actually deal with those wounds, and took a look at my medical supplies. They were minimal. The anti-septic I had, would hardly deal with half the wounds she had before running out. The same with the creams. Now what? I shoved the supplies back into my sack, and kept only the bottle of phenyl. The rest would have to be home remidies (which was what I preferred in any case).

I made a strong solution of tea in a huge pot and used that to clean the wounds. Yes, I just plunged in, and cleaned them all thoroughly, pus, maggots and all, till the flesh showed clean. Some of the deeper wounds still harboured maggots - of that, I was sure, so I used some gauze soaked in phenyle on them to dress them. On the rest, I applied a light film of honey and stuffed them full with crushed garlic.

All done, I walked away from the tent area and puked.

The evening saw a repeat performance. On the next day, the maggot wounds were clean too, and they received the honey and garlic treatment, and by that evening, some of the lighter cuts had begun to heal, and the filly was acting more interested in life, and giving me trouble to catch for treatment But she seemed to understand that I was trying to help, so she flinched and nudged with her nose, if it hurt, but never tried to kick at me or hurt me in any way.

After that, I taught the couple how to do what I was doing, and told them that they would have to repeat this till ALL the wounds were healed, and that the filly could probably begin walking in a day or two.

They seemed to have got the point, and the two days were uneventful - so to say (not counting one of my fillies who seemed to be jealous of all the attention this one was getting)

The time was up, and the gaddi camp moved on, and the filly became another memory, until a few years later, when I ran across the same gaddi again. There was a beautiful mare in his herd - the one I had treated. I recognised her instantly and was happy for her. The couple put camp once more, to spend some time with me, and that evening, I was invited to a special dinner, where they thanked me with tears in their eyes for saving their beautiful mare.

Their animals also looked better cared for, since the last time. I was happy, that things had worked out well, and that they had developed some love and concern for the living factors in their “business”

We live in a chemical world. They are in use all around us - from pesticides to cosmetics and baby bottles to computers. Some chemicals are known to be toxic and we know very little about many others.

There are simple actions you can take to reduce your exposure to harmful chemicals. And protect wildlife from the toxic threat.

Feeling defenceless against chemical contamination?

You can cut your risks by taking a few simple precautions when you shop and how you live…

In the living room and bedroom

Avoid

• dry cleaning wherever possible
• re-carpeting when you are pregnant
• synthetic carpets, carpet underlay or upholstery with synthetic foams, foam rubber, latex or plastic coverings, because these emit VOCs
• air fresheners, go for fresh air - open your windows! If you can’t do that, use natural odour eaters such as a bowl of baking soda, or natural fragrances such as potpourri

Buy

• carpets from organic natural fibres such as wool, cotton, rattan or jute
• machine washable clothes and clothes with fewer chemical treatments such as stain repellents

In the bathroom

Avoid

• cosmetics, toiletries and perfumes with synthetic fragrances
• long-term use of permanent hair dyes, especially those carrying a warning “can cause an allergic reaction”

Use

• beauty products such as soaps, shampoos, conditioners and hair care products made from natural ingredients
• fragrance-free products
• unbleached toilet paper and sanitary products

In the kitchen

Avoid

• tinned food products
• chemical air fresheners or heavily scented cleaning products such as dishwashing liquids, floor cleaners and washing powders
• cling film when reheating or cooking food in the microwave
• microwaving food in plastic containers unless they are designed for that purpose

Use

• organic products whenever possible
• fresh, frozen or dried food rather than tinned food;
• a water filter to reduce the levels of chemical contaminants in drinking water
• non-vinyl flooring

In the garden

Avoid

• using creosote-based preservatives or products pre-treated with creosote
• using pesticides indoors or in the garden - use alternatives and try gardening organically

Use

• paints, varnishes and glues labelled ‘Low VOC content’, or those that are water-based water-based
• organic or natural paints made from plants oils - ask in the store to find which products are available.
• garden furniture not treated with creosote

In the nursery

Avoid

• polycarbonate-plastic baby feeding bottles. The vast majority of plastic feeding bottles are made from polycarbonate which contains bisphenol A, a hormone disrupting chemical that can leach into the liquid inside. Polycarbonate can be identified by looking on the packaging for PC 7 or looking inside the recycling triangle for the number 7. Wherever possible, breast feeding is always the best option
• using old and worn plastic baby bottles

Use

• baby bottles that are not made of polycarbonate
• children’s teething products and dummies from a reputable source

The New Year is almost here, and the greeating cards with best wishes are flooding in. Just today, I received some 34 greeting cards. Many of them were from people I don’t even remember. I doubt if I am going to read them all - ever. Perhaps some of the really interesting ones, I might read.

If this is the state of my cards, what is happening around the world? How many trees have died, for cards, no one even bothers to read?

I rarely use paper for my work. And when I do, I use both sides, most of the time. It not only keeps the number of papers more controllable in terms of storage, but also helps me be more organised with a computer, leading to an efficient information storing and recovery method, which ends up saving a lot of time and effort for me.

Raka is also very particular about being careful with resources, and we often collect the clean plastic bags we have and return them to shops so that they can be reused.

I am sure we make a difference - however small. What if the many of us could actively involve ourselves into making tiny changes in our habits, to create a massive positive influence on our planet?

With this in mind, I went to the WWF website and got this information to share with the readers here, so that anyone interested, knows exactly what they can do and can begin, without further ado.

I’m not inviting anyone. It is your planet as much as mine.

Save Wood and Paper Return unwanted mail and ask for your name to be removed from the mailing list. Always use both sides of a sheet of paper. Use e-mail to stay in touch, including cards, rather than faxing or writing. Re-use envelopes. Always recycle paper after use. Share magazines with friends and pass them on to the doctor, dentist or local hospital for their waiting rooms. Use recyclable paper to make invitation cards, envelops, letter pads etc.

During Holidays Go on holiday during the off-peak period to prevent over straining resources - you’ll also avoid the crowds. Find out about your destination before you go on holiday - it may be an environmentally sensitive area. Doing this will also ensure you are informed of what to see and any local customs. Find out about places before you visit. You may be visiting a environmentally sensitive area, in which case you must take extra care to stay on footpaths and follow signs. Don’t travel by air if you can avoid it because air travel uses up large amounts of fossil fuels and creates greenhouse gases. Avoid taking things on holiday that you will throw away. Dispose of any rubbish responsibly - it can be hazardous to wildlife. Ask your travel agent or tour operator what they are doing to be environmentally responsible. Use public transport, cycle or walk instead of using a car. Use facilities and trips run by local people whenever possible. Don’t be tempted to touch wildlife and disturb habitats whether on land, at the coast or under water. Be careful what you choose to bring home as a holiday souvenir. Many species from coral and conch shells to elephants and alligators are endangered because they are killed for curios or souvenirs. Don’t leave any rubbish at the beach - turtles are often killed by plastic bags they’ve mistaken for jellyfish and many items take years to degrade as well as being dangerous. Boats and jet-skis create noise and chemical pollution which is disturbing to wildlife - don’t keep the engine running unnecessarily.

© [date of material] WWF. Some rights reserved.

I came across this press release in my relentless surfing (when I find the time). I found this to be an interesting concept. Most vacations are contributing to the degradation of the environment and global warming. These guys have come up with a novel idea. What they do is buy a certain amount of credits with money from client payments that goes toward projects targetted toward decreasing the amounts of methane in the atmosphere. Methane is one major culprit in the global warming scenario.

This money is used to fund expensive projects on livestock farms to capture the methane released in the area and convert it into energy for use on the farm, which also results in savings. Needless to say, such a project can be very expensive and this is where the money from aware citizens comes into play. Even if they cannot physically do the work, they certainly can support it. What a brilliant idea!

This is a programme not happening in India currently. I wonder how we at Wide Aware can do something about it, or perhaps create an initiative in a similar, constructive direction….

*Makes a mental note to figure out a way and share it with the people*