How is the unpredictable weather affecting our wildlife?

The UK’s weather has always been predictably unpredictable, with extremes thankfully very rare. But how do our butterflies and birds cope with this and what could a warming climate mean for them?

By Jeremy Coles

15 July 2016

It’s not exactly been a scorching start to the season – less of a "barbeque summer" and more of a "dodge the downpours" kind of summer – so extreme heat and drought is one thing our butterflies and birds haven’t had to cope with.

For the vast majority of UK butterfly species, cold and wet summers result in reduced populations

The weather so far this year has been at the other end of the scale. Spring took a long time to get going with temperatures generally below average and snow falling in April. The start to summer has also been less than typical, with June being a washout for many parts of the UK.

Together with last year’s cold, wet summer it could indicate problems for some of our insect populations.

“The weather has a massive influence on UK butterfly populations from generation to generation, year to year,” says Richard Fox, head of recording for Butterfly Conservation.

During prolonged spells of wet and cold during their flight period, individual butterflies are not able to disperse or feed, set up territories or engage in courtship.

And, most importantly, they aren't able to lay eggs.

So by limiting all these behaviours, explains Fox, extended periods of cold and wet weather can directly reduce the breeding success of our butterflies. However, it can spell double trouble as their caterpillars grow more slowly in colder conditions and are more prone to predation and disease.

“For the vast majority of UK butterfly species, cold and wet summers result in reduced populations,” he says.

There are some species that have evolved to cope with the cooler, wetter climates of northern and upland Britain, such as the mountain ringlet and Scotch argus, where they live amongst the longer vegetation and grassy tussocks. Nevertheless, stresses Fox, they still like some warm and sunny days in order to get out and reproduce.

Continued ...

Cities Affect Temperatures for Thousands of Miles – via Herp Digest

Jan. 27, 2013 — Even if you live more than 1,000 miles from the nearest large city, it could be affecting your weather.

In a new study that shows the extent to which human activities are influencing the atmosphere, scientists have concluded that the heat generated by everyday activities in metropolitan areas alters the character of the jet stream and other major atmospheric systems. This affects temperatures across thousands of miles, significantly warming some areas and cooling others, according to the study this week in Nature Climate Change.

The extra "waste heat" generated from buildings, cars, and other sources in major Northern Hemisphere urban areas causes winter warming across large areas of northern North America and northern Asia. Temperatures in some remote areas increase by as much as 1 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit), according to the research by scientists at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography; University of California, San Diego; Florida State University; and the National Center for Atmospheric Research.

At the same time, the changes to atmospheric circulation caused by the waste heat cool areas of Europe by as much as 1 degree C (1.8 degrees F), with much of the temperature decrease occurring in the fall.

The net effect on global mean temperatures is nearly negligible -- an average increase worldwide of just 0.01 degrees C (about 0.02 degrees F). This is because the total human-produced waste heat is only about 0.3 percent of the heat transported across higher latitudes by atmospheric and oceanic circulations.

However, the noticeable impact on regional temperatures may explain why some regions are experiencing more winter warming than projected by climate computer models, the researchers conclude. They suggest that models be adjusted to take the influence of waste heat into account.

"The burning of fossil fuel not only emits greenhouse gases but also directly affects temperatures because of heat that escapes from sources like buildings and cars," says NCAR scientist Aixue Hu, a co-author of the study. "Although much of this waste heat is concentrated in large cities, it can change atmospheric patterns in a way that raises or lowers temperatures across considerable distances."

Distinct from urban heat island effect

The researchers stressed that the effect of waste heat is distinct from the so-called urban heat island effect. Such islands are mainly a function of the heat collected and re-radiated by pavement, buildings, and other urban features, whereas the new study examines the heat produced directly through transportation, heating and cooling units, and other activities.

The study, "Energy consumption and the unexplained winter warming over northern Asia and North America," appeared online January 27. It was funded by the National Science Foundation, NCAR's sponsor, as well as the Department of Energy and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Hu, along with lead author Guang Zhang of Scripps and Ming Cai of Florida State University, analyzed the energy consumption -- from heating buildings to powering vehicles -- that generates waste heat release. The world's total energy consumption in 2006 was equivalent to a constant-use rate of 16 terawatts (1 terawatt, or TW, equals 1 trillion watts). Of that, an average rate of 6.7 TW was consumed in 86 metropolitan areas in the Northern Hemisphere.

Using a computer model of the atmosphere, the authors found that the influence of this waste heat can widen the jet stream.

"What we found is that energy use from multiple urban areas collectively can warm the atmosphere remotely, thousands of miles away from the energy consumption regions," Zhang says. "This is accomplished through atmospheric circulation change."

The release of waste heat is different from energy that is naturally distributed in the atmosphere, the researchers noted. The largest source of heat, solar energy, warms Earth's surface and atmospheric circulations redistribute that energy from one region to another. Human energy consumption distributes energy that had lain dormant and sequestered for millions of years, mostly in the form of oil or coal.

Though the amount of human-generated energy is a small portion of that transported by nature, it is highly concentrated in urban areas. In the Northern Hemisphere, many of those urban areas lie directly under major atmospheric troughs and jet streams.

"The world's most populated and energy-intensive metropolitan areas are along the east and west coasts of the North American and Eurasian continents, underneath the most prominent atmospheric circulation troughs and ridges," Cai says. "The release of this concentrated waste energy causes the noticeable interruption to the normal atmospheric circulation systems above, leading to remote surface temperature changes far away from the regions where waste heat is generated."

Mongolia winter kills herds, devastating the poorest

http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKSGE62R01N._CH_.2420

Mongolia winter kills herds, devastating the poorest
Sun Mar 28, 2010 10:00pm BST
By Tyra Dempster

BEIJING, March 29 (Reuters) - A severe winter has left 4.5 million dead animals
in stockyards across the Mongolian steppes, and many poor herders face the loss
of all their property just before the important breeding season.

About a tenth of Mongolia's livestock may have perished, as deep snows cut off
access to grazing and fodder.

The damage to the rural economy could increase demands on Mongolia's
already-stretched national budget, which relies on mining revenues to meet
spending commitments. [ID:nTOE61A04Q]

The Red Cross launched an emergency appeal for 1 million Swiss francs to assist
Mongolian herders, after it estimated that 4.5 million livestock have died in
the country since December.

"The numbers of livestock that have perished have gone up very, very quickly and
dramatically now to about 4 million which is roughly a tenth of the whole
livestock population," Francis Markus, communications director for the Red
Cross' East Asia delegation, said in Beijing after returning from Mongolia.

"This means that thousands of families, mostly coming from the poorest and most
vulnerable layers of the herder population, have lost their entire flocks of
animals and have been left in a very, very distraught and very, very desperate
state."

Roughly one-quarter of Mongolia's 3 million people are nomads, while others also
raise livestock in fixed settlements. Many go deeply in debt to buy and raise
their herds, in hopes of making the money back by selling wool, meat and skins.

A similar combination of a summer drought, followed by heavy snow and low winter
temperatures, which is known in Mongolian as a 'zud', caused widespread hardship
in Mongolia a decade ago.

As a result, impoverished herder families flocked to the slums outside the
capital, Ulan Bator, straining the city's ability to provide basic services.

"The herding community's situation is very hard now. The best off are those who
still have around 40 percent of their livestock left and in the worst 50 cases
are those who have lost absolutely everything," said Zevgee, speaker of the
county parliament in Bayangol, southwest of the capital.

This zud was the worst for several years, with temperatures dropping to 40
degrees Celsius below zero or colder in 19 of Mongolia's 21 provinces, according
to a World Bank report.

Around 63 percent of Mongolia's rural residents' assets are their livestock, it
said, and at least 35 percent of the population earn a living from their
animals.

Herder Tsendjav said that she had no option but to rely on the government and
aid to survive the weather.

"I have seen many zuds that have caused the loss of numerous animals but I have
never seen a zud as bad as this one," she said at a Red Cross aid dispensary.

(Writing by Lucy Hornby; Editing by Sugita Katyal)