Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Friday, August 19, 2011

Plants And Animals Moving As Climate Changes, Study Finds

A new study suggests that plants and animals are moving as the climate changes.

Red Orbit reports on research published in the journal Science, showing that as temperatures rise, plants and animals are moving away from the equator and to higher elevations. As the Associated Press writes, they are "fleeing global warming."

2010 tied 2005 as the warmest year on record, according to government climate experts. According to the Associated Press, National Climatic Data Center's David Easterling noted that since 2000, we have experienced nine of the 10 warmest years on record.

In response to a changing climate, the study finds that species are moving away from the equator at an average rate of more than 15 feet per day, or about a mile per year.

The article also asserts that the plants moving the most are in the areas with the highest levels of warming.

In a phone interview with the Associated Press, Chris D. Thomas, a conservation biologist who lead the work, said, "It's not a matter that might happen in the lifetime of our children and our grandchildren. If you look in your garden you can see the effects of climate change already."

The findings are based on the largest analysis to date of the shifting ranges of species in certain areas of the world, according to the Washington Post.

"The more warming there’s been in an area, the more you would expect a species to move, and the more they have moved,” Thomas, told the Post. "This more or less puts to bed the issue of whether these shifts are related to climate change."

Full Article
Source: Huffington 

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