Guillemots facing extinction?

To begin my blog I want to start off with something simple - a short video from the National Geographic. It shows the impact global warming has had on the polar regions, witnessed by a man who goes there every year to count the population of guillemots. The three main points the video makes are:

1. Reduction in pack ice has decreased the number of Arctic cod which the guillemots feed on.

2. A general increase in the area has led to an increase in other birds which increases the competition for the small number of Arctic cod left.

3. Polar bears are left stranded in this area due to pack ice reduction and so have begun to eat a large number of guillemots.

These are just a few impacts of global climate change. The fact is, in the last decade more than 2000 species are thought to be moving north at a rate of 15 feet per day to escape the increase in temperatures due to global warming [1]. In this blog I will be looking at different species that have successfully migrated north, and those that are at risk of extinction due to habitat fragmentation and physical boundaries such as oceans that prevent this movement. I will look at past examples of species migration and how we can learn from these to predict the bleak future of our bio-diverse planet.



References:

[1] http://news.discovery.com/animals/animals-migrating-north-global-warming-110818.html