Guest essay by Eric Worrall
According to The Guardian, climate change caused 200 reindeer to starve to death in Svalbard, though the scientists conducting the study think overpopulation might have been a factor.
Starvation deaths of 200 reindeer in Arctic caused by climate crisis, say researchers
Comparable death toll has been recorded only once before, says Norwegian Polar Institute
About 200 reindeer have been found dead from starvation in the Arctic archipelago Svalbard, an unusually high number, the Norwegian Polar Institute has said, pointing the finger at climate crisis.
…
Ashild Onvik Pedersen, the head of the census, said the high degree of mortality was a consequence of climate crisis, which according to climate scientists, is happening twice as fast in the Arctic as the rest of the world.
“Climate change is making it rain much more. The rain falls on the snow and forms a layer of ice on the tundra, making grazing conditions very poor for animals,” she said.…
The increased mortality is also due in part to a significant increase in the number of reindeer in the Norwegian archipelago. That is partly thanks to climate crisis and the warmer summers, meaning more individuals compete in the same grazing areas.
…
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/30/deaths-of-200-reindeer-in-arctic-caused-by-climate-change-say-researchers
I’m starting to see this more and more, scientists genuflect to the alleged climate crisis, but they seem to qualify their statement, to let the truth about what is really causing the problem peek through what they are saying about climate change.
Discover more from Watts Up With That?
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
I recall the words from way back, “”A species expands to the limit of its
food supply, therm it dies””.
This applies to all life forms including us humans.
MJE VK5ELL
Regarding the temperature change on Spitsbergen, how much has it really changed? This link shows the average of the observations made at the observation post close to the airport from 1899. For me it looks like the observation during the two last decades has happened before.
https://www.yr.no/place/Norway/Svalbard/Svalbard_lufthavn/climate.month01.html
“For me it looks like the observation during the two last decades has happened before”
It has, particularly in the 1930’s, what is unusual is that there hasn’t been any really cold year since 2011, which is probably the main reason there are so many reindeer.
Also that temperature curve may be a bit iffy. The early part is cobbled together from a variety of sites around the Icefjord area, the 1946-1975 part is from Isfjord Radio at the mouth of the fjord while the section from 1975 is from Svalbard Airport near Longyearbyen.
The reindeer of Svalbard are the smallest species. They weigh about half as much as other reindeer species and are thus much shorter in length.
Reindeer can see ultraviolet light which allows them to see urine — a sign of predators or competitors; lichens — a major food source in winter; and fur, making predators such as wolves very easy to see despite being camouflaged to other animals that can’t see UV.”
10 things you never knew about reindeer
https://medium.com/@BBSRC/10-things-you-never-knew-about-reindeer-5b5767bf8ab0
Moreover CDW is now infecting reindeer herds with culls taking place.
No, ice bears on land in summer don’t hunt actively. They scavenge, eat bird’s eggs and young and berries and similar, but they don’t chase animals, not even Svalbard reindeer. The reason is supposedly that any heavy effort out of cold water can cause heat stroke. Polar Bears are very well insulated. Remember we are talking about animals that can swim in freezing water for several days without ill effect.
The Guardian article does underline one strange aspect of the climate change issue.
While the theory of global warming can be argued, it seems to me that the theory of “climate change” is a mess.
Climate Change causes Reindeer deaths while at the same time ( or in the same year) causing Reindeer numbers to proliferate.
Climate Change, aka Climate Disruption, is a theory that cannot be falsified, contrary to the traditional scientific method explained by Popper and indeed, Richard Feynman.
It certainly can’t be disproved on the ‘evidence’ of this article.
Hilarious. I see reigndeer quite often and they’d only be happier if the alarmists predictions were correct. It would give the Sami a break as well because there wouldn’t be a need to migrate them from the mountains into the lowlands for winter in order for them to feed. Clearly the first thought is a large population eating everything or a disease that has affected them. Alarmists aren’t so good at forensics. They’re libel to send the innocent to prison in order to justify their belief.