Species Shifting Habitats Faster to North Seeking Cooler Places

Due to global warming, plant and animal species are shifting their natural habitats towards the north at a faster rate, reveals a survey of over 2,000 species.

The survey, a four-decade-long analysis of various species across Europe, North and South America and Malaysia, revealed that organisms that experience the greatest change in temperatures move the fastest.

The study said that the average rate of movement is three times faster than previously expected for those species migrating towards the poles. On the other hand, for organisms that are migrating further up mountains, the average rate of movement is about twice as fast as realized.

Species are moving northward in the northern hemisphere and southward in the southern hemisphere on an average rate of about 16km or 17km per decade, according to the study, published in the journal Science.

"These changes are equivalent to animals and plants shifting away from the equator at around 20cm per hour, for every hour of the day, for every day of the year. This has been going on for the last 40 years and is set to continue for at least the rest of the century," said Professor Chris Thomas senior author on the paper and a professor of conservation biology at the University of York in the United Kingdom.

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/201179/20110820/species-shifting-habitats-faster-to-north-seeking-cooler-places-global-warming-plant-and-animal-clim.htm