How many more butterfly days before Christmas?

[rlchew]

This is very thought provoking article ....

A disturbing idea: how many more butterfly days before Christmas?

I am sure we are all enjoying the late butterflies but it is yet a further sign of our much warmer climate .

At least the article ends on a positive note with a reference to the new RSPB reserve at Rainham Marshes .

Richard

[Susie]

Nature will adjust.

[badgerwatcher]

Certainly nature will adjust, but how many species will be lost in the adjustment?

[Garden Carpet]

Saw a Red Admiral just now. I wonder what its chances of survival are though.
jaki

[Susie]

We had a huge hail storm about an hour and a half ago. It was so heavy that the ground turned white and many of the remaining leaves were stripped from the trees in my street. I don't fancy the chances of any butterflies that got caught in that.

[Dennis1234567]

Natural adjustment had a slight effect on the dinosuars i'm told.

[Susie]

Exactly!

The thing that people don't seem to understand (or perhaps it is just me that doesn't understand) is that the world we live on has constantly been changing since it was formed. Species evolve, die out, or whatever in accordance with the conditions they are living in at the time.

Now I am not denying that we are exacerbating the situation and that every step should be taken to halt the damage we are doing to out environment but at the end of the day nature will fill any void that is created. If the human race (and other species) is no longer able to tolerate the conditions here something else will ... and it will thrive in them.

[badgerwatcher]

It's not lack of understanding that makes me regret the changes, but sadness at the prospect of beauty destroyed, untimely, by human carelessness. I, too, believe that the Earth is a self-righting engine, or mechanism, or Gaia, whatever you like to call it. I know that species come and go like flickers on the face of time, but I marvel at each creature and mourn its loss. I accept that there will be fresh joys, and that we may not be part of the picture by then. But I am experiencing on the subjective as well as the objective levels, and I feel sad on a personal level.