Species all over the world are moving northwards and upwards in order to reach colder climates to live in. To put it simply, climate change is real and happening - whether caused by humans or natural processes, it has warmed the planet by approximately 0.8C in the last century (NASA - [1]). Within this time period, over 2,000 species have moved significantly northward or upward (i.e. tree ranges have shifted up mountains) in order to reach their optimum conditions to live [2]. As their original habitats become warmer, species can no longer survive due to increased temperatures or in some cases lack of food as their sources of prey have moved north. In either case, the ultimate consequence is to move northward to colder conditions and prey sources. However, for many species this is difficult as they could be slow ground movers as opposed to species such as birds and butterflies. I will cover the obstacles many species have to overcome in order to migrate north in another blog.
References:
[1] http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/environment/2005_warmest.html
[2] Parmesan et al 1999, 'Poleward shifts in geographical ranges of butterfly species associated with regional warming', Nature, 399, 579 - 583
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