More than 1/4 of U.S. birds threatened by Global Warming
Pastor Dale Morgan
More than 1/4 of U.S. birds threatened by Global Warming*
28 Nov 2007 16:30:17 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Deborah Zabarenko, Environment Correspondent
WASHINGTON, Nov 28 (Reuters) - More than a quarter of all U.S. bird
species are vulnerable to extinction, according to a comprehensive list
compiled by two conservation groups released on Wednesday. Global
warming may be partially to blame.
The new WatchList 2007, compiled by the National Audubon Society and the
American Bird Conservancy, found 178 species in the continental United
States and 39 in Hawaii in danger.
Of those, 98 are on the "red list" of greatest concern, and 119 in the
"yellow" category, indicating their numbers are seriously declining or
the species is rare.
Global warming, the loss of habitat due to urban and suburban sprawl and
the current U.S. administration's policies on endangered species are all
to blame, a co-author of the list said in a telephone interview.
"It's a sign that basically the human relationship with the environment
is off-kilter and these are some of the species that are suffering from
that," said Gregory Butcher of the National Audubon Society.
The sea level rise caused by global warming puts pressure on bird
populations, Butcher said.
Coastal bird habitats of species like the seaside sparrow and the piping
plover are likely to be inundated, he said.
"And because there's so many people living close to the oceans, we're
not sure that the natural habitats at the edge of the sea will continue
to exist in the face of sea level rise," Butcher said.
'LOOMING THREAT'
Arctic birds that breed in Canada and Alaska, such as the puff-breasted
sandpiper and the snowy owl, are losing their tundra habitat as the
planet warms. "We're very concerned about those species due to global
warming," Butcher said.
David Pashley, a co-author from the American Bird Conservancy, agreed
that global warming was a "looming threat" but said, "This is not
something the bird conservation community can tackle."
The problems of urban sprawl and the resulting loss of habitat are
critical, Pashley said by telephone.
Both authors said the Bush administration's policies on endangered
species had not helped.
"Unfortunately we've been seven years in an administration that really
doesn't believe in the Endangered Species Act, so they've sort of been
looking for excuses not to list species that should be added to the
act," Butcher said.
Some of the "most imperiled" birds on the WatchList are not protected
under the Endangered Species Act, the two groups said in a statement.
These include the Gunnison sage-grouse, whose numbers have been reduced
by drought and habitat destruction in Colorado and Utah; the lesser
prairie-chicken, which has isolated populations from Kansas to New
Mexico; the ashy storm-petrel, whose breeding populations are restricted
to the West Coast; and the Kittlitz murrelet, whose breeding and feeding
habitat appears linked to Alaska's tidewater glaciers.