Cara J Posted January 7, 2019 Share Posted January 7, 2019 Changing wind patterns due to climate change could bring mixed results for migrating birds. Under future climate scenarios, researchers found, North American birds may find it harder to migrate southward in the fall but easier to fly north in the spring. “The study opens up a broad range of questions,” said Cornell Lab of Ornithology scientist Frank La Sorte, lead author of the paper in the journal Global Change Biology. “Exactly how will these changes affect birds?” Cornell Lab of Ornithology researchers used data from 143 weather radar stations to identify not weather but nocturnal migratory bird populations in an effort to estimate the altitude, density and direction of their movements between breeding grounds in North America and wintering grounds in the tropics and subtropics. They paired that information with wind data from 28 different climate change projections in the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to estimate how changing wind speed and direction might affect them. They found a mixed blessing for the birds. Westerly winds are projected to increase during spring migration but slightly decrease in the autumn. Southerly winds are expected to increase during both periods. The overall result is greater tailwind support for migrating birds [...] View the full article Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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