Title
Climate now shifting on a continental scale, huge study says
Link
Climate now shifting on a continental scale, huge study says - USATODAY.com
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Excerpt
By Doyle Rice, USA TODAY
A landmark climate study released Wednesday reports that global warming is changing the life cycles of thousands of animals and plants — as well as hundreds of physical systems — worldwide.
It documents rapid glacier melts in North America, South America and Europe; trees and plants sprouting leaves much earlier in the spring in Europe, Asia and North America; permafrost melting in Asia; and changes in bird migration patterns across Europe, North America and Australia, all in response to rising global temperatures.
Though previous studies have looked at single phenomena or smaller areas, the latest analysis examines data on a continental scale, says lead author Cynthia Rosenzweig, a scientist at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York.
By analyzing data from each of the Earth's seven continents and the oceans, the study paints a clear picture of a world that's been undergoing rapid transformation in just the past few decades.
"These are things that are happening now, not projections of future changes," she says.
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Comment:
A series of four photos from 1940, 1982, 1996 and 2005 shows the dramatic retreat of the Chacaltaya glacier in Bolivia.
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