Chances are you probably will never see a polar bear in the wild as the poster animal for climate changedisappears along with its Arctic habitat. But as you hike through the mountains of the American West, you can still catch a glimpse of another improbably cute critter threatened by climate change.
Not for long.
Like the polar bear, the American pika is losing its home as rising temperatures force the pint-size mammal farther up the alpine slopes of the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada. Resembling a rabbit but more adorable, the pika drops dead if its body temperature rises more than 3 degrees Celsius (5.4 degrees Fahrenheit). Now a new study confirms that pika populations are indeed vanishing as the West warms. Researchers found that the animal could become extinct across 88 percent of its range in California in the coming decades.
The findings could put new pressure on state and federal officials to protect the pika. After years of legal battles, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and California wildlife officials denied petitions from conservationists to put the pika on state and federal endangered species lists. The reason: Despite several studies showing the pika’s distinctive high-pitched squeak is no longer heard at lower elevations, the government concluded it could survive rising temperatures.
But Joseph Stewart, the lead author of the study published in the Journal of Biogeography, said proof of the pika’s vulnerability to climate change has become irrefutable.
And Seals. Climate deniers hate baby seals, too.
“The evidence that ongoing climate change is causing pikas to disappear from low elevation and warmer sites is solid,” Stewart, a graduate student in ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, wrote in an email. “The fate of the pika, and countless other species, will depend on how much global warming pollution we dump into the atmosphere.”
7 thoughts on “Why Do Climate Deniers Want to Kill this Cute Baby Pika?”
After reading the last chapter of “A Short History of Nearly Everything” by Bill Bryson, nothing really surprises me anymore about human cruelty to animals. After all we are “the chosen one” placed here in the image of god… or whatever…
Nothing can match baby seals as “poster children”. That said, pikas ARE cute, and I’ve spent some enjoyable time in the Colorado Rockies observing them as they scurry about storing food. Don’t have many pictures of pikas, though. I have more of western marmots sunning themselves by draping their bodies over the tops of rocks like deflated balloons.
Like so many other living things that are altitude dependent for habitat, they will be forced upslope and likely die out. There is little that can be done about that by declaring them “endangered” if we don’t do something about AGW soon. And having no more pikas would be a shame, but I am far more worried about the disappearance of honeybees, butterflies, and birds in my backyard. (Then too, just like “If a tree falls in the woods, and ….”, if there is no human there to see that there are no more pikas, does it matter?
How low will the cruel, cowardly bastards go, you ask?. Once the pika population drops to the point that they become “rare”, the “free market” will demand that someone organize pika safaris so that they can make a buck off the fat cats that travel the world killing for fun (oops, I mean “sport”). Pellet guns should do it with minimal pelt damage, and taxidermy costs should be minimal.
I’ve spent enjoyable time in the Colorado Rockies – returning to the same areas every summer around Ouray and the Collegiate Peaks since the mid ’70s – observing them as they scurry about storing food. Unlike commenter “dumboldguy”, I did finally snag pictures of pikas on the the Alpine Tunnel road and on the lower east side of Rollins Pass. Bad news for you fellows is that 1) I have exceptionally good high pitch hearing, and 2) I always look forward to hearing those li’l buggers squeaking on the same talus slopes I’ve been visiting for 35+years. They haven’t moved an inch up the mountains from what I can tell.
Not to worry, though, folks will say I’m not a climate scientist or a pika-ologist. At least you always have that fallback tactic.
Not today, Russell. I only do the countdown when you’re being a flaming AO and crapping up the place with your BS.
You’ve made some worthwhile comments here, and we share something in common! Colorado! I’ve been to nearly every corner of the state starting in 1966 (even wrecked a car out there in 1999).
I’m a fan of the D&RGW narrow gauge lines, and have ridden the D&S and the C&T and the other NG lines more than once, been to Ouray, Telluride, Ridgeway over the million dollar highway more than once. Have driven over Rollins Pass and Boreas Pass, but haven’t made it to Alpine yet. I often regret not moving there rather than to VA.
(Everyone knows you’re not a climate scientist or pika-ologist, or any other kind of “-ologist”, so there’s no need to remind them).
(and why did you give “thumbs down” to JCL and I? Are you still mad at us for pointing out some of your “inadequacies”?)
“I have exceptionally good high pitch hearing” I’ll take Joseph Stewart’s peer-reviewed science over your anecdotes any day. And, yeah, we’ve all been up Trail Ridge Road and vicinity over the decades (my ancestors helped build Left Hand Reservoir). Pika’s can be seen or heard without having the foggiest notion as to population density.
Russell-!!!! Still out there? Read this one—-you need to stop whoring for peanuts at Heartland and go work for Lomborg at CCC. They paid him $700+Km and should be able to offer you a lot more than Heartland’s $24K.
Like the polar bear, the American pika is losing its home as rising temperatures force the pint-size mammal farther up the alpine slopes of the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada. Resembling a rabbit but more adorable, the pika drops dead if its body temperature rises more than 3 degrees Celsius (5.4 degrees Fahrenheit). Now a new study confirms that pika populations are indeed vanishing as the West warms. Researchers found that the animal could become extinct across 88 percent of its range in California in the coming decades.
After reading the last chapter of “A Short History of Nearly Everything” by Bill Bryson, nothing really surprises me anymore about human cruelty to animals. After all we are “the chosen one” placed here in the image of god… or whatever…
Nothing can match baby seals as “poster children”. That said, pikas ARE cute, and I’ve spent some enjoyable time in the Colorado Rockies observing them as they scurry about storing food. Don’t have many pictures of pikas, though. I have more of western marmots sunning themselves by draping their bodies over the tops of rocks like deflated balloons.
Like so many other living things that are altitude dependent for habitat, they will be forced upslope and likely die out. There is little that can be done about that by declaring them “endangered” if we don’t do something about AGW soon. And having no more pikas would be a shame, but I am far more worried about the disappearance of honeybees, butterflies, and birds in my backyard. (Then too, just like “If a tree falls in the woods, and ….”, if there is no human there to see that there are no more pikas, does it matter?
How low will the cruel, cowardly bastards go, you ask?. Once the pika population drops to the point that they become “rare”, the “free market” will demand that someone organize pika safaris so that they can make a buck off the fat cats that travel the world killing for fun (oops, I mean “sport”). Pellet guns should do it with minimal pelt damage, and taxidermy costs should be minimal.
I’ve spent enjoyable time in the Colorado Rockies – returning to the same areas every summer around Ouray and the Collegiate Peaks since the mid ’70s – observing them as they scurry about storing food. Unlike commenter “dumboldguy”, I did finally snag pictures of pikas on the the Alpine Tunnel road and on the lower east side of Rollins Pass. Bad news for you fellows is that 1) I have exceptionally good high pitch hearing, and 2) I always look forward to hearing those li’l buggers squeaking on the same talus slopes I’ve been visiting for 35+years. They haven’t moved an inch up the mountains from what I can tell.
Not to worry, though, folks will say I’m not a climate scientist or a pika-ologist. At least you always have that fallback tactic.
Now, from dumboldguy in …3 …2 …1: “GO AWAY!”
Not today, Russell. I only do the countdown when you’re being a flaming AO and crapping up the place with your BS.
You’ve made some worthwhile comments here, and we share something in common! Colorado! I’ve been to nearly every corner of the state starting in 1966 (even wrecked a car out there in 1999).
I’m a fan of the D&RGW narrow gauge lines, and have ridden the D&S and the C&T and the other NG lines more than once, been to Ouray, Telluride, Ridgeway over the million dollar highway more than once. Have driven over Rollins Pass and Boreas Pass, but haven’t made it to Alpine yet. I often regret not moving there rather than to VA.
(Everyone knows you’re not a climate scientist or pika-ologist, or any other kind of “-ologist”, so there’s no need to remind them).
(and why did you give “thumbs down” to JCL and I? Are you still mad at us for pointing out some of your “inadequacies”?)
“I have exceptionally good high pitch hearing” I’ll take Joseph Stewart’s peer-reviewed science over your anecdotes any day. And, yeah, we’ve all been up Trail Ridge Road and vicinity over the decades (my ancestors helped build Left Hand Reservoir). Pika’s can be seen or heard without having the foggiest notion as to population density.
“I’ve been visiting for 35+years. They haven’t moved an inch”
Anecdote is not the plural of data.
Russell-!!!! Still out there? Read this one—-you need to stop whoring for peanuts at Heartland and go work for Lomborg at CCC. They paid him $700+Km and should be able to offer you a lot more than Heartland’s $24K.
http://www.desmogblog.com/2015/02/09/exclusive-bjorn-lomborg-think-tank-funder-revealed-billionaire-republican-vulture-capitalist-paul-singer