First let us understand what is

global warming?

Global Warming: Global warming

refers to an average increase in the
Earth's temperature, which in turn
causes changes in climate. A
warmer Earth may lead to changes
in rainfall patterns, a rise in sea
level, and a wide range of impacts
on plants, wildlife, and humans.
When scientists talk about the
issue of climate change, their
concern is about global warming
caused by human activities

Climate Change: Climate is the

long-term average of a region's
weather events lumped together.
Climate change represents a
change in these long-term weather
patterns. They can become warmer
or colder. Annual amounts of
rainfall or snowfall can increase or
decrease.

I would like to through some light

on how Global warming affects
birds and other wildlife in countless
ways, and can even cause
extinctions.

How does global warming

affect birds, other wildlife, and
their habitats?

All organisms depend on their

habitats for food, water, shelter,
and opportunities to breed and
raise young. Climate changes can
affect organisms and their habitats
in a myriad of ways. In fact, global
warming impacts all life on earth,
from individual organisms to
populations, species, communities,
and ecosystems. It can alter
behaviors, population sizes,
species distributions, plant and
animal communities, and
ecosystem functions and stability.
How strongly different species will
be affected varies, depending on
differences in their ecology and life
history. Species with small
population sizes, restricted ranges,
and limited ability to move to
different habitat will be most at
risk. When it comes to global
warming, birds are like canaries in
the coal mine, showing us that
temperature increases are
reshaping our ecology in potentially
dangerous ways. According to a
2009 Audubon report, nearly 60% of
305 species found in North America
in winter have been on the move
over the last 40 years, shifting their
ranges northward by an average of
35 miles, and in some cases by
hundreds of miles.

Is wildlife already being

affected by global warming?

There is mounting scientific

evidence that global warming is
already having profound effects on
birds, broader biodiversity, wildlife
habitat, and ecosystems. Here are
some of the ways that global
warming is affecting wildlife:

Geographic range
The ranges of many plants and
animals are moving toward the
poles and toward higher elevations.
For example, the ranges of many
British breeding birds were, on
average, more than 11 miles farther
north in the period from 1988-91
than they were in the period from
1968-72, according to comparisons
derived from breeding bird atlases.
(British butterflies are also being
found farther north.)

Reproduction timing
Egg-laying, flowering, and
spawning are occurring earlier for
many species, in some cases
disrupting delicate cycles that
ensure that insects and other food
are available for young animals. For
example, Tree Swallows across
North America have advanced egg-
laying by as many as nine days
from 1959 to 1991.

Migration timing and patterns

Spring migration is occurring
earlier and fall migration later in
many species. For example, 25
migratory bird species are arriving
in Manitoba, Canada, earlier than
they did 63 years ago; only two are
arriving later.

Frequency and intensity of

pest outbreaks
Global warming increases droughts
in some areas; and spruce
budworm outbreaks frequently
follow droughts, perhaps because
dry weather increases the stress
on host trees or allows more
spruce budworm eggs to be laid.
Spruce budworms can be lethal to
spruce trees, and spruce-fir forests
are a very important habitat type in
the northern hemisphere for a wide
variety of plants and animals.

Can global warming cause

extinctions?

Global warming is already causing

extinctions in vulnerable species.
Approximately 70 species of
harlequin frogs in Central and
South America have been driven to
extinction by a disease that is
linked with global warming.
Warmer temperatures cause
increased cloud cover that creates
ideal conditions for a fungus that
kills the frogs. This is only one
cautionary example of how global
warming disrupts the stability of
ecosystems. As it continues, it will
cause more extinction.

Scientists predict 9-52% of all

terrestrial species (1 million plants
and animals) will be on an
irreversible path to extinction by
2050. (These predictions are based
on modeling of the effects of
minimum to maximum climate
warming impacts on a broad range
of species in regions around the
world.)

The planet's 25 biodiversity

"hotspots" are especially
vulnerable to climate impacts.
These special places provide
homes to 44% of the world's plants
and 35% of its vertebrates, in less
than 1.4% of its land area. A
doubling of atmospheric carbon
dioxide, which estimates suggest
could occur in about 100 years,
could lead to extinction of as many
as 43% of these areas' endemic
species.

England's long history of nature

observation makes it a center of
phenology, the study of natural
events such as flower blooming
and bird nesting occurs. There and
all across Europe, detailed records
show rising average temperatures
are affecting natural processes.
David Walker
 of the Dungeness Bird Observatory
holds a chiffchaff Phylloscopus
collybita, a warbler whose yearly
migration and nesting are much
earlier now than in the mid-20th
century.
Ornithologist Andrew Gosler of
Oxford University records the date
of egg lying of great tits Parus
major, in Wytham Wood. Monitoring
900 nest boxes since the 1960s,
this project, run by the Edward
Grey Institute of Field Ornithology,
has documented a three week
advance in date of first laying,
which is "entirely consistent with
the weather." British Trust for
Ornithology records confirms
similar advances for many other
birds.

One of the most dramatic changes

to the British countryside is the
earlier budding of the famous
English oaks, Quercus robur. These
trees are monitored on a canopy
walkway at Wytham Environmental
Change Network. Across Europe,
30 years of records from botanical
gardens show that the growing
season is almost 11 days longer
due to earlier spring and later fall
events.

The next small research on birds is

done by the American
ornithologists are investigating
climate change in several ways.
Jeff Price of the American Birding
Congress collects data from birders
and scientists and reports
changing migration and ranges for
hundreds of North American
species. This yellow warbler was
an early migrant at Point Pelee
National Park, Ontario.
And than the next research is
carried on by Audubon scientists.
The findings signal predict that
global warming will mean dire
consequences, even extinction, for
many bird species, and this
analysis suggests that that the
process leading down that path is
already well underway," warned
Audubon President John Flicker.
"We're witnessing an uncontrolled
experiment on the birds and the
world we share with them."

The following is a list of top 20

common birds in North America
with the greatest population which
has decline in there recent
research.

#1
Northern
Bobwhite
a chubby,
robin-
sized bird
that runs
along the
ground in
groups
and is
found in
grasslands
mixed
with
shrubs or
widely
spaced
trees
throughou
t much of
the
Eastern
United
States.
#2
Evening
Grosbeak:
a rotund,
robin-
sized bird
found in
the
mountains
of the
western
United
States and
Canada;
the boreal
forest of
Canada
and the
northern
edge of
the United
States
east to
Nova
Scotia.
#3
Northern
Pintail: a
Mallard-
sized
"puddle
duck" with
a slim
body
found in
grassy
uplands
and
untilled
crop fields
near
shallow
seasonal
and semi-
permanen
t wetlands
in much of
the
Northern
Hemispher
e.
#4
Greater
Scaup: a
black,
gray, and
white
duck,
smaller
than a
Mallard,
found
along
lakes and
large
ponds in
large open
tundra
complexes
in Alaska
and
eastern
Canada.
#5 Boreal
Chickadee
: a small,
active,
grayish
bird with a
black chin,
brown
cap, and
brownish
sides
found in
spruce
and fir
forests in
most of
Alaska
and
Canada
and the
U.S.
states
adjacent
to
Canada.
#6
Eastern
Meadowlar
k: a robin-
sized bird
with a
light
brown
back and
brilliant
yellow
breast
with a big,
black "V",
found in
grasslands
and open
savannas
in eastern
Canada
south
through
the
eastern
United
States.
#7
Common
Tern: a
slender,
medium-
sized,
black-
capped,
gray-and-
white bird
with thin,
pointed
bill, and a
long,
deeply
forked
tail, found
near shore
in oceans,
lakes, and
rivers in
the
Northern
Hemispher
e,
wintering
in the
Southern
Hemispher
e.
#8
Loggerhea
d Shrike:
a robin-
sized gray
bird with
black
wings,
white
wing-
patches, a
black
mask, and
black tail,
found in
short
grass with
isolated
trees or
shrubs,
especially
pasturelan
d in most
of Mexico
and the
southern
half of the
United
States.
#9 Field
Sparrow:
a small
brown
songbird
with a
light rusty
cap and a
bright
pink bill
found in
abandone
d fields
with
scattered
shrubs
and trees
in the
United
States
east of the
Rocky
Mountains
and
Canada.
#10
Grasshopp
er
Sparrow:
a fairly
nondescri
pt, small
brown
bird with a
short tail
and a flat
head often
found
hiding in
larger
patches of
grassland,
usually
with few
shrubs or
trees, in
the United
States
east of the
Rocky
Mountains
and
adjacent
portions of
southern
Canada.
#11 Snow
Bunting: a
small,
pale-
brown-
and-white
bird
usually
found in
winter by
the ocean,
lakes, and
rivers
shores,
grassy
fields or
roadsides
in North
America,
Alaska
and
northern
Canada.
Its
breeding
plumage
is brilliant
white and
black.
#12
Black-
throated
Sparrow:
a very
distinctive
small,
brown
bird with a
black
throat and
mask
found in
open
areas with
scattered
shrubs
and trees,
including
deserts
and semi-
desert
grasslands
in the
intermoun
tain
region in
the
western
United
States,
northern
Mexico,
and Baja
California.
#13 Lark
Sparrow:
a brown
bird with
distinctive
markings
on the
head and
tail, found
in grassy
habitats
with
scattered
trees or
shrubs,
including
sagebrush
, park-like
settings,
and open
deciduous
savannas
in interior
southwest
ern
Canada
south to
northern
Mexico
and from
Illinois
west to
California.
#14
Common
Grackle: a
dark bird
longer
than most
blackbirds
, slimmer
than most
crows,
and very
iridescent
with long
center-
creased
tail, found
in a
variety of
open
habitats
with trees,
including
urban
areas,
parks,
riparian
areas, and
a variety
of woody
wetlands
in the
United
States and
Canada.
#15
American
Bittern: a
two-foot
tall brown
and tan
striped
wading
bird found
in
freshwater
wetlands
with tall,
emergent
vegetation
in most of
the
Canadian
provinces
and the
northern
half of the
contiguou
s United
States.
#16
Rufous
Humming
bird: a
very
small,
almost all
cinnamon-
colored
bird with a
red
throat,
found
wherever
flowers
are near,
from
dense
forests to
sunny
gardens in
southern
Alaska to
northern
California
and
Mexico.
#17
Whip-
poor-will:
a bird only
active at
night with
mottled
brown
plumage,
found in
dry, open
woodlands
with little
underbrus
h in most
of the
eastern
United
States,
and parts
of
southeast
ern and
south-
central
Canada,
southwest
ern United
States,
Mexico,
and into
northern
Central
America.
#18
Horned
Lark: a
small
grayish
brown
bird with
dramatic
black,
yellow,
and white
facial and
breast
pattern,
and small,
feathered
“horns” on
its head,
found in
open,
barren
habitats in
Canada,
the United
States
(including
Alaska),
and
northern
Mexico
outside of
heavily
forested
areas.
#19 Little
Blue
Heron: a
dark blue
bird with a
light blue
bill that
has a
black tip
in adults,
found in a
wide
variety of
shallow
waters
and
wetlands,
including
fresh and
saltwater
in the
southeast
ern United
States,
Bahamas,
Cuba, and
most of
the coast
of Mexico.
#20
Ruffed
Grouse: a
round-
bodied,
mottled-
brown,
crow-sized
bird found
in aspen
forests,
but in
parts of
 the United
States,
found in
young,
open,
mixed
deciduous
-
coniferous
forests,
also in
Alaska,
through
most of
Canada,
and the
northern
United
States.

At last I would like to tell about Nal

Sarover bird sanctuary in
Ahmedabad which is one of the
premier attraction for birds
migration and its one of the major
tourist attraction for having 250
spices of birds but due to effect of
global warming it has reduced and
hardly we can see 150 spices like
Wlute strokes, Rosy pelicans,
herones, flamingoes, Brahminy
ducks

Just want to say that save the

creatures flying in the sky which
adds more beauty to the nature
Warming has been a big threat for
us, as well as for birds! Birds are
the barometer of the environmental
health. Birds send warning to us
about the climate change, if we
need to save ourselves; we need to
save the birds first!

The temperature is getting higher

and higher every year. Birds are
flying north further and further.
This gives a hint that our world is
having 'fever' and the temperature
is still increasing!

We have to lower the energy

consumption to battle the global
warming crisis, to give back a
healthy habitat for the birds and
protect our live. Do whatever we
can to reduce the pollution by 80%
in the next 50 years.

We need to act now! Please stand

together fighting for global
warming!