Climate change, land development take toll on butterflies

Butterflies are charismatic, attractive and indicator of the health of the environment worldwide. A new study suggests that California butterflies have been hit hard by the change in climate and after effects of land development. Many lowland species are being hard hit by the combination of warmer temperatures and habitat loss. The land-use figures show butterfly losses have been the most where habitat has changed from rural to urban and suburban types.

The study revels that butterfly diversity is going down rapidly at all the sites near sea level and dipping more slowly or holding nearly constant in the mountains, except at tree line as the tree line, butterfly diversity is actually increasing, as lower-elevation species respond to the warming climate by relocating upslope to higher, cooler elevations.

It has also observed that the diversity among high-elevation butterflies is beginning to come down as temperatures are unbearably warm for them and one of the most surprising findings was that the number of ruderal ("weedy") butterfly species, which breed on "weedy" plants in disturbed habitats and are highly mobile is actually coming down faster than "non-weedy" species, which specialize in one habitat type.

Arctic methane emissions jump, hint of warming

The Arctic emissions of methane, one of the most powerful greenhouse gas has increased 30 percent in recent years, worrying that global warming might expose the  vast stores of frozen green house gases in permafrost. If this trend continues there will be serious consequences in the coming years.

Around 30.6 percent rise in emissions from the Arctic from 2003-2007 was the biggest percentage gain for any region of the world's wetlands. Presently the Arctic wetlands account for only 2 percent of global emissions from wetlands and that too near tropics area.

The temperatures in the Arctic are rising even faster than the global average because of global warming caused with the fossil fuels and the retreat of sea ice and snow cover will exposes the darker water or ground, which steep up ever more heat thus it is critical to understand the extent of overlap between wetlands and regions that are most sensitive to projected future warming.

The emissions from wetlands make up roughly a third of global methane emissions of 540 million tones along with the other major sources of emissions from fossil fuels, livestock and rice paddies. 

Deadly funnel-web spiders invade Sydney

The Sydney region in Australian has recorded higher than usual numbers of funnel-webs and warned that the plague could get worse as a long period of dry weather followed by heavy rain and high humidity over Christmas that has prompted an enhance the numbers of funnel webs as due to climate change there is more moisture and coolness and the spiders have been able to breed up. The heavy rain had made Sydney homes, gardens and sheds the ideal refuge for them which provide favorable conditions to breed. The funnel-web spider is used in the production of anti-venom for treatment of bites. The drastic increase in the funnel web is found since Boxing Day after Christmas last year.

The funnel-webs can grow up to two inches long. They make their burrows in cool, sheltered habitats, often under rocks and inside rotting logs. They even bite the people and the symptoms of their bite include tingling around the mouth and tongue, nausea, vomiting, and shortness of breath and they can result in death. In the past 100 years bites from Sydney funnel-webs have caused 13 deaths, including seven in children. So the drastic increase in the spider population is a reason of concern.

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