Goat Population May Increase Due to Global Warming
- 11 years ago
The goat population may increase due to global warming.
Global warming could have a positive effect for some animal populations.
A new study shows that goats thrive in warmer temperatures and with more daylight hours, suggesting that global warming could be advantageous for some goats.
No wild goat populations can currently survive above 60 degrees latitude, because of the lower temperatures, shorter days and less food.
But with climate change, it is possible for their northern populations to increase.
Talking about a specific case study on the Isle of Rum in the United Kingdom, Professor Robin Dunbar from the University of Oxford said: “The population seemed to be oscillating comfortably around a decent mean for many decades… As temperatures have started to climb by bits of a degree over the last half century we've been seeing the numbers of goats on the Isle of Rum increasing.”
Other animal populations are also taking advantage of changing climate conditions.
In Alaska, the white trumpeter swan population is growing thanks in part to longer summers and hunting prohibitions.
The trumpeter swan was hunted close to extinction for meat, feather, down and quills, but now their populations have rebounded to around 25 thousand swans in 2012.
Global warming could have a positive effect for some animal populations.
A new study shows that goats thrive in warmer temperatures and with more daylight hours, suggesting that global warming could be advantageous for some goats.
No wild goat populations can currently survive above 60 degrees latitude, because of the lower temperatures, shorter days and less food.
But with climate change, it is possible for their northern populations to increase.
Talking about a specific case study on the Isle of Rum in the United Kingdom, Professor Robin Dunbar from the University of Oxford said: “The population seemed to be oscillating comfortably around a decent mean for many decades… As temperatures have started to climb by bits of a degree over the last half century we've been seeing the numbers of goats on the Isle of Rum increasing.”
Other animal populations are also taking advantage of changing climate conditions.
In Alaska, the white trumpeter swan population is growing thanks in part to longer summers and hunting prohibitions.
The trumpeter swan was hunted close to extinction for meat, feather, down and quills, but now their populations have rebounded to around 25 thousand swans in 2012.