No mention though of the “adopt a wolverine” program that has proven so popular with polar bears and NGO’s looking for cold cash from the gullible. I guess they just aren’t cuddly enough. According to Wikipedia:
“The world’s total wolverine population is unknown.”
The Wildlife Conservation Society reported in June 2009 that a wolverine which researchers had been tracking for almost three months had crossed into northern Colorado. Society officials had tagged the young male wolverine in Wyoming near Grand Teton National Park and it had traveled southward for approximately 500 miles. It was the first wolverine seen in Colorado since 1919, and its appearance was also confirmed by the Colorado Division of Wildlife.
Here are some photos of wolverines in northern California in 2008 near Tahoe.
And again in 2009. They say that “Wolverines have not been scientifically confirmed in California since the 1920s.” With a former range like that, I suppose they won’t have trouble adapting to a warmer place. Last time I checked, it was warmer in Colorado and California than in Canada.
Wolverines have been seen in Michigan in the last decade too, the first time in 200 years.
Nature is pretty darn tough, very adaptable, and the wolverine is no exception. IMO, the bigger threat, like with bears, is clashes with human developments. I just don’t buy the claim of this study, note the weasel words “highly uncertain” in the highlighted portion of the press release.
=============================================================
From NCAR/UCAR: Wolverine population threatened by climate change
BOULDER—The aggressive wolverine may not be powerful enough to survive climate change in the contiguous United States, new research concludes.
Wolverine habitat in the northwestern United States is likely to warm dramatically if society continues to emit large amounts of greenhouse gases, according to new computer model simulations carried out at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). The study found that climate change is likely to imperil the wolverine in two ways: reducing or eliminating the springtime snow cover that wolverines rely on to protect and shelter newborn kits, and increasing August temperatures well beyond what the species may be able to tolerate.
“Species that depend on snow cover for their survival are likely to be very vulnerable to climate change,” says NCAR scientist Synte Peacock, the author of the study. “It’s highly uncertain whether wolverines will continue to survive in the lower 48, given the changes that are likely to take place there.”
Peacock’s research focused on mountainous regions of the Northwest, the primary habitat of the wolverine population in the contiguous United States. The study did not look into the impacts of climate change on regions where wolverines are more numerous, such as Canada, although other research has indicated those areas will likely warm significantly as well.
The study was published last week in Environmental Research Letters. It was funded by the National Science Foundation, NCAR’s sponsor.
An animal built for the cold
Wolverines make their home mainly in the boreal forests and tundra regions of North America, Europe, and Asia. Their thick, oily fur insulates them from frost and large padded paws help them run through deep snow. While some 15,000 or more wolverines are believed to roam Canada and an unknown number in Alaska, only a few dozen to a few hundred are believed to live in the contiguous United States, almost entirely in mountainous areas in Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, and Washington.
Wolverines inhabit regions that have late-season snow cover and relatively cool summer temperatures. Female wolverines make their springtime dens in the snow, which provides warmth to the newborn kits and protects them from predators.
Biologists are dubious that the species could survive in regions with little spring snow or significantly higher summertime temperatures. Concerned over habitat loss and the potential threat of climate change, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service announced in December 2010 that the wolverine warrants protection under the Endangered Species Act, but delayed that protection because other species took higher priority.
To project the future climate in regions of the contiguous United States where wolverines live, Peacock analyzed results from new simulations carried out by a team of researchers at NCAR using the newest version of the Community Climate System Model (which was developed by scientists at the Department of Energy and NCAR with colleagues at other organizations). She analyzed three scenarios of greenhouse gas emissions: low (carbon dioxide emissions stay at present-day levels until 2020 and then decline to zero by the early 2080s); medium-low (emissions rise slightly until 2040 and then decline sharply toward the end of the century); and high (emissions continue to increase unabated).
In the high emissions scenario, the computer simulations showed spring snow cover nearly or completely vanishing during the second half of this century in present-day wolverine habitat. Similarly, spring snow cover in the medium-low scenario became greatly diminished, with many years experiencing zero snow cover. Under the low emissions scenario, springtime snow cover conditions remained similar to those of the present day.
The computer projections also showed that August temperatures may increase dramatically. Whereas August temperatures currently top off at about 72 degrees F (22 degrees C) in areas where wolverines live, maximum daily temperatures by the end of the century were projected to frequently exceed 90 degrees F (32 degrees C) under the two higher-emissions scenarios.
“Unless the wolverine is able to very rapidly adapt to summertime temperatures far above anything it currently experiences, and to a spring with little or no snow cover, it is unlikely that it will continue to survive in the contiguous U.S. under a high or medium-low emissions scenario,” the study concludes.
The model simulations also indicated the extent to which climate change may transform the West, where society depends on mountain snowpack. This critical source of water could decrease by a factor of three to four over Idaho, western Montana, and western Wyoming by the end of this century under the high emissions scenario. Even under the medium-low emissions scenario, snowpack could drop by a factor of two to three in these regions.
Peacock checked the accuracy of the model by comparing simulations of late 20th century climate with observations. Results indicated that the model did a good job simulating climate conditions in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. Since the model tended to underestimate snowpack in Washington, Peacock did not include that state in the study.
About the article
Title: Projected 21st century climate change for wolverine habitats within the contiguous United States
Author: Synte Peacock
Publication: Environmental Research Letters, January 27, 2011
No more Wolverine? But what about the rest of the X-Men?
Next endangered species by Climate Change (A.K.A.: Current Maunder-like minimum): Human species, then the post would read:
BOULDER—The aggressive human kind may not be powerful enough to survive climate change in the contiguous United States, new research concludes
According to the Wik article, wolverines have no natural predators, but the kits are sometimes taken by predatory birds.
Also from the article, “Their populations have experienced a steady decline since the 19th century in the face of trapping, range reduction and habitat fragmentation, such that they are essentially absent in the southern end of their European range.”
Not climate change, which the study suggests may or may not impact the wolverine’s ability to raise offspring. I would boldly suggest that these animals could more readily adapt to climate variability than range reduction, habitat fragmentation or trapping, as they have obviously survived warmer periods before. Perhaps they would build a dirt den for their kits if snow was not available.
This is what happens when someone who has no clue about the REAL WORLD starts examining wild animals.
Picture this: you get up in the morning, cook your breakfast (which you have no idea about the source, just that there are eggs and bacon from the store). You get into your car (which you have no idea about the source, just that you went to the dealership and bought it) in the garage where it’s heated (or cooled), drive to your research facility where you park in underground parking.
You sit down at your computer (which you have no idea how it works, just that you can type things into it and they appear on paper) and load up the “Computer Model” (which you have no idea how it works, just that some “peer reviewed” people built it) and run some what-if scenarios through it. By changing a few variables (which you have no idea what they do, only that they’re adjustable) you come up with some really scary scenarios. At least, scary to you.
I guarantee that nobody, NOBODY who has ever been on the street actually believes that a vicious, aggressive animal like the Wolverine is actually going to be threatened by some relatively minor variations in climate. People with real-world experience know that an animal will do whatever it takes to survive, period. People peering out the tiny slits in their ivory towers have only the faintest clue about what is outside.
Ever been hungry? I don’t mean hungry like you only had 2 meals today, I mean hungry for days hoping to somehow collect enough change or discarded bottles and cans to be able to afford a cheeseburger from McD’s. Ever been so hungry that catching a rabbit running around the neighborhood and cooking it over a garbage fire seems like a good idea?
Ever been without shelter? Ever? If not, what possible clue can you have about wild animals, in the wild? I know people who think beavers build their dams and homes the same way we do. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of them think they have little beaver realtors selling beaver developments to each other.
I know some of these researchers, and they’re completely, hopelessly clueless. Life is not about simplistic migration for climate purposes, life is about finding food for the single purpose of surviving and a place to sleep that doesn’t get you hauled out and eaten in the middle of the night. Life isn’t about mommy and daddy buying you an education so you can make the big bucks and drive a nice car and live in a nice place without ever having to deal with bad people. It’s about a daily struggle to not die.
Wolverines, polar bears, they’ll be fine. They don’t sit around examining their options and needlessly fretting about “climate”. They eat, sleep, and reproduce. The End.
It really doesn’t matter what Ms. Peacock’s credentials are, she’s a simplistic idiot when it comes to this topic. And Wolverines will be alive and thriving LONG after Ms. Peacock’s ridiculous hypothesis is disproved and we all stop laughing at her. Unless some well meaning researchers start TAGGING the poor little buggers, that would kill them off.
Back in the late eighties, my wife (then girlfriend) and I had a wolverine circle our camp at dusk in a meadow at 8,000 ft in near our home in Montana. Needless to say, we kept the camp fire blazing all night.
Ironically, a few years later one of the grad students I was working with had a Stevenson screen destroyed by a wolverine. It was situated in an alpine meadow, in an adjacent mountain range. It was in splinters – the electronics were a total loss and there was wolverine scat nearby.
Snow pack has been above normal the last few years in Montana. Here is the current SNOTEL data
Mike
Are you really that clueless that you didn’t realize the Ann Arbor wloverine reference was a joke? You have never heard of Michigan Wolverines or Wisconsin Badgers?
In case you didn’t notice’ reread the article; there was nothing “systematic” about this article. Dead cougars are also not an ane cdote in the way you use the term.
I read the paper and it seems reasonable. The natural questions for a skeptic to ask are, is the loss of the wolverine in the lower 48 states a bad thing, and will the wolverine’s range expand to the north in Canada. (The first is a values question, the second a science one.) The paper does not claim to address these. It is just looking at a small piece of a big puzzle. I don’t think the results will pay a big role in determining if we should reduce CO2 emissions. But there is no reason to denigrate the research itself.
For those who have not witnessed a Wolverine , crashing lunch.
The Wolf is lucky it didn’t become lunch.
The biggest threats to Wolverines are: fire arms, metal traps , and land use alterations that destroy their “homes” and damage their food supply. The same goes for any, near the top, predator. Notice, temperature, the presence or absence of snow and so on is not on this list. I suspect the authors are more or less correct in attributing danger to the actions of people. It is only which of their actions is the more serious or important. This also begs the questions of value systems. Mother Nature seems not to have one treating all creatures on an equal footing. It is only us who attribute some greater value to one creature over another, ourselves included.
Pamela Gray- I would hazard a guess there are still Wolverines in Wallowa Co.,
Union co. and Baker Co. in NE Oregon. Back in 1934, when there were supposed to be none, my Pop tangled with one while Deer hunting, up on Grayrock ridge, which is
over on the Umatilla Drainage, he had one shot left, and was prepared to shoot it
as it came up, but the pursuit of an old Doe was more in line with the Wolverine’s
menu-not a tough, stringy, Scots-Irishman/Cherokee. The tracks were confirmed to
be that of a Wolverine, as Pop got a Govn’t tracker to verify them. Then in 1968,
while running our Hound with her littermates, (back when you could actually hunt cougars with them.) we came across this set of tracks, I’d never seen anything ike them. Pop had-Curiously, the hounds would not have anything to do with the track. I got home and called a local biology teacher I knew. “There are no Wolverines here!” I said: “Ok the get your plaster an make a cast of these!” We did, he could not come to any conclusion other than-“It’s a dam’ Wolverine!” he had those casts in his class room for several years. I don’t know the disposition now… One other thing, this was on the face of Mt. Emily at about the 4,000 ft. level hardly high and snowy all year.
The decline of the real field biologists and the rise of the computer model are detrimental to real science in my opinion…
Mike says:
February 4, 2011 at 8:47 am
DesertYote says:
February 4, 2011 at 8:09 am
You have provided absolute proof that you do not have a skeptical mind.
###
Thanks for the feedback. I like irritating trolls about as much as I like studying carnivores. BTW, your comment makes absolutely no sense in relation to what I wrote, which seems to be a defining characteristic of greeny comments.
@ur momisugly Harold Ambler, February 4, 2011 at 5:59 am
What are a few old fossils compared to the shiny, new, continuously updated computer models!
/sarc
This is speculation in action, note that there is no actual problem at all, there is no proof of any population stress at all, there is not enough data to provide any actual solid evidence whatsoever. Yet here we have yet again yet another in a long line of scare stories based on nothing but speculation, here is anti science in action.
“The study found that climate change is likely to imperil the wolverine in two ways: reducing or eliminating the springtime snow cover that wolverines rely on to protect and shelter newborn kits, and increasing August temperatures well beyond what the species may be able to tolerate.”
When you examine the words closely they have no substance at all, it is a fabrication of a supposed problem about which they actually know nothing concrete but which serves the CAGW narrative perfectly and this one article perfectly illustrates how illusory in nature these CAGW scares actually are.
Look at the next paragraph for anything of substance:
“She analyzed three scenarios of greenhouse gas emissions: low (carbon dioxide emissions stay at present-day levels until 2020 and then decline to zero by the early 2080s); medium-low (emissions rise slightly until 2040 and then decline sharply toward the end of the century); and high (emissions continue to increase unabated).”
Another set of assumptions based entirely on another assumption that CO2 has any correlation with temperatures, the mechanism is unproven and yet there are models being used that have no basis in fact being used to create a scenario about which they actually know nothing. An illusion based on assumptions for which there is no actual solid evidence.
Here is the Achilles heel of CAGW theology and the myriad of wild claims made on its behalf, it all rests on CO2 being a major driver of the greenhouse effect, like an inverted pyramid if the tiny base crumbles the entire edifice collapses. No anthropogenic effect no ridiculous stories like this, no funding, no audience, no influence, no fear and no more emotional blackmail arm twisters.
The actual story is simply a plea for research money, they know that ringing the bell of CAGW gets money flowing, if they simply asked for money based on the truth which is they would like to study the Wolverine then no money would be forthcoming, its all tied to CAGW now. You want money? Tie your research to CAGW and its yours for the asking. Funnily enough I do have some sympathy with scientists who are reduced to this kind of begging bowl circumstance. Its a bloody shame isnt it?
JohnH says:
February 4, 2011 at 6:19 am
Have they looked outside the window recently ?”
John, what’s going on outside your window is weather…that doesn’t count…remember? /sarc
James Goneaux says at 6:58 am: “the government re-introduced elk, which pushed out the moose, which led to a huge increase in the deer population, which has led to starvation…and the cycle continues.’
Recently I watched a decent documentary film about the release of wolves into Yellowstone, Wyoming (and Montana and Idaho). It was pretty decent (i.e., balanced) but also showed some very weird things such as the pens (prisons) for “bad” wolves on Ted Turner’s ranch, and also the extremely bizarre program to train (wild?!?!?) wolves not to eat livestock by using electrified dog training collars. Unless the producer had a very ironic sense of humor, these scenes were not intended to appear as bizarre as they actually were.
It really reminded me (as did your post James) that ecologists and environmentalists have been engaged in a decades-long battle of intrusions and manipulations against nature (“the wilderness”) under various environmental guises.
It’s just one intrusion after another, with almost never a thought given to unintended consequences, and then when things go wrong (wolves eating livestock, just as they did in the 1890’s) it’s straight back to the “saving the wilderness” drawing board with yet another intrusion, manipulation, and interference with nature (e.g., wolf prisons, electrified wolf collars) that will inevitably lead to yet more unintended results.
In southern Colorado, the high temp a couple days ago got up to -15C, tomorrow it might reach +10C. And these folks are worried about a couple degrees C driving wolverines to extinction? Over 50-100 years?
P.T.Barnum Lives!
Ray B
Hello neighbor
On the nasty critters that are endangered list; south of us in Jackson county especially, wolf populations are very high. Wolf population density is higher than the text books tell us it should get. So expect expanding wolf populations throughout southwest Wisconsin. The good news is that will drive out some of the coyote population.
DesertYote says:
February 4, 2011 at 8:09 am
Based on humanity’s long and hostile relationship with cockroaches, mosquitos, rats, bedbugs, coyotes, etc. it would seem there is only one logical course, if we are interested in preserving the long term well being of all of nature’s creatures. We need to immediately declare that all non human species are pests and commit to their complete eradication. All of the species we’ve devoted the most attention to wiping out have prospered gloriously, while those which we have spent extravagant efforts and costs to preserve have continued to decline, sometimes at an accelerated rate. Virtually every poor creature that has fallen under the tender mercies of PETA has ended up dead in relatively short order. The only species that have done well on the endangered species list are those which were never in any danger to begin with. It seems entirely clear that the best thing we can do for the planet, Mother Gaia and all her progeny is to declare our everlasting enmity toward them. Never underestimate the motivational power of spite.
sorta sarc/
Here is a clip of a wolverine fighting with a black bear. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJ4tyowlVUM
This has to be a fake story. Absolutely nobody in their right mind is going to threaten a Wolverine.
Why I would rather give the finger to a Tasmanian Devil, than to threaten a Wolverine.
I’m happy to see them taking over the place around Tahoe though, that is kinda neat. I wonder how their mild mannered cousins; the Fishers are doing; it would be nice to rejuvenate them too.
“”””” Elizabeth says:
February 4, 2011 at 9:08 am
According to the Wik article, wolverines have no natural predators, but the kits are sometimes taken by predatory birds. “””””
Well Elizabeth, when Robin Chicks get hungry, the mother Robin, can get downright mean; and she’ll grab anything to feed her chicks.
Sigh. I commented on this story at Steven Goddard’s site last night so I’ll just repost my comments (based on the link he had) here:
“Back to this stupid wolverine story. Here’s the crux of it from that link:
“Springtime snow cover helps protect wolverine dens from predators, and the animal is built to thrive in deep powder.”
Really. The ONLY potential predator of a wolverine is another wolverine. So if there are less of them, less of a threat.
But that is beside the point. The reason snow is nice – not necessary – for their dens is that it provides insulation from the cold, for the newborn young. With the planetary fever that would matter less, except for the coldwarm.
And, yes, they have huge feet – their tracks look like little bears – which helps them “thrive in powder” in the winter, but not so much in the spring, summer, or fall. Moreover, these animals have huge home ranges which typically include big elevation/snow differences. Yet they do not seem to die.
Could go on but, as I said before, this story is beyond stupid.”
————-
And this related comment which adds perspective:
“Its worse than just that. If they can get a species, or subspecies, or ‘distinct geographic population’ (real or invented) listed as Threatened or Endangered, that gives legislated funding to save it – which could be a job for life for the ‘experts’ who do the ‘research’ to decide whether it should be listed that high or not. Bit of a conflict of interest, and a powerful incentive to find the worst of course.
Moreover, those listings, particularly Endangered, are powerful tools to use to lock up land use.
This is all the product of the new pseudoscience called ‘Conservation Biology’ which is the twisted sister of IPCC global climatology. They work together on many levels, as is perhaps best illustrated by the so-called Threatened polar bear.
And, really, given the coming planetary fever and all that, what isn’t Endangered?”
———
Also, I just saw this:
George E. Smith says:
February 4, 2011 at 10:30 am
“”””” Elizabeth says:
February 4, 2011 at 9:08 am
According to the Wik article, wolverines have no natural predators, but the kits are sometimes taken by predatory birds. “””””
The only predatory birds capable of taking very young kits would be a golden eagle or a great horned owl, and the former is the one most consistently found in current wolverine habitat. However, given the aggressive protective behavior of a female wolverine this would be a VERY rare event and, most relevant to this stupid story, they would not be plucking them out of their dens!
As for the ‘climate sensitivity’ and all that, there are historic fur trade records of wolverines from North Dakota… where summers are not exactly cool.
The reality for wolverines is just like polar bears, in that populations are now at historic highs in most of their current range because they were once heavily trapped, and now they are not.
“Society officials had tagged the young male wolverine in Wyoming near Grand Teton National Park and it had traveled southward for approximately 500 miles. It was the first wolverine seen in Colorado since 1919, and its appearance was also confirmed by the Colorado Division of Wildlife.”
It they tracked it they should have known it was in Colorado. It not likely the wolverine took the collar off and give it to a black bear or something else!
I now live in Los Angeles. I still have my 60’s vintage Alaskan parka with hood trimmed in wolverine fur (doesn’t ice up when you breathe through it). It occurs to me I haven’t seen a hog in years. I think wolverine fur scares off the hogs. Can I get a grant to study this if I tie it somehow to AGW?
This Wolverine story, is just another in a deluge of threatened, endangered, stressed, habitat deprived species sob stories being churned out by the “controllers.
Of late, I have been watching quite a bit of almost round the clock PBS T&V shows; that for a start repeat on an endless loop it seems; so three days later, I can watch the same show; perhaps on the same SF PBS Station or its San Jose sister.
Both of these stations are operating now in virtually continuous cadging mode; so every program is interrupted constantly by some named person telling me I should support mu PBS station and I can continue to get such wonderful programming. yes I support them; today is payday, and I can see how much of my pay check goes to support those stations in my taxes. The only reason I watch them is that those two stations are two of the three English Language stations that my rabbit ears can pick up. The other 53 stations that I can get, are all foreign language. Spanish, Chinese/Taiwanese/Mandarin/Cantonese; including Communist Red China as well, then Korean, Indian, Filipino, Vietnamese, Persian, Russian, German, Italian; even French
Another endless tape PBS program, is the “documentary” about how wasteful Americans are compared to families in India, and Cameroon. In India evidently 85% of all families’ main energy source is dried cattle dung; but they even have electric cars as well.
Cameroon, has a much lower carbon footprint than India or the USA, because they walk everywhere; and if you walk everywhere, you end up with quite large feet; I know I grew up in that condition. I think in Cameroon, they spend 85% of their time, out in what remains of the fields and forests cutting bio-fuels, which are of course carbon neutral.
These examples of green living, become even more educational, when you look at the total industrial product in the way of goods and services, Cameroon puts out compared to the USA; with India of course in the middle.
But for the endangered going extinct species, we have the ringed seals, and the fur seals, and the Narwhal, and the Bowfin whale, and beluga, and the polar bear which eats all of the former, so with any luck, they will all go extinct together; well I nearly forgot the Walrus in there didn’t I.
All of these animals need ice to walk and hunt on, or hide under, or knock holes in to come up and breathe; or get eaten by the PB. You see if the ice wasn’t there, all of them would go extinct either from lack of food, or from heart disease caused by lack of exercise escaping from the PB.
Somebody out there in the programming industry, is programming us all to learn to love the ice, and hate humans.
And when that happens, I become a whole lot meaner than any Wolverine you ever encountered. So stop it !