With every spring comes the great spectacle of bird
migrations. Who has never stopped to contemplate the majestic flight of snow
geese or Canada geese? Every year, migratory birds travel thousands of
kilometres, linking together different ecological systems. Their beauty, what
they inspire in us and their importance internationally make them excellent
ambassadors for biodiversity.
But the international scientific community is signalling a decline in migratory
birds worldwide due to the impacts of climate change. Higher temperatures that
lead to desertification in some areas and an increase in storms in different
parts of the world have a major effect on bird migrations. A new French study
conducted over 18 years and published recently in the British Proceedings of the
Royal Society indicates that the average temperature in France, for example, has
increased by 0.068 degrees Celsius per year, meaning that any given temperature
has moved 273 kilometres north.
The study continues by indicating that bird populations in France are moving
their habitats only 182 kilometres north. Birds are thus not migrating north as
rapidly as the earth is warming, and this phenomenon could be accompanied by “a
desynchronization of interactions between species,” states the study’s main
author, Vincent Devictor of the University of Montpellier, evoking the risk of
serious consequences for biodiversity.
All wisdom traditions have always spoken to us of the interrelationship between
all things. Without a profound, global understanding of the laws of life, humans
appear to be apprentice-sorcerers who cause disturbances that impact humanity
and all of the other kingdoms of Nature.
