Bullock Texas State History Museum
Bird Messengers
RECEIVED Fri., March 29, 2019
Dear Editor,
I am writing in response to your article “What Are the Birds Telling Us About Climate Change?” [News, Feb. 23, 2018]. I would like to start by saying the writing was very compelling and an informative read. As someone interested in both avians and climate change, it was fascinating to see the two connect in such an unexpected way. The fact that something as simple as migration patterns can be used to track the effects of global warming across different regions is pretty amazing. How remarkable it is that something as simple as a bird’s migration can graph even the most subtle of changes in regional temperatures. It is curious to see how these migration ranges and breeding patterns have been affected due to climate change, perhaps more curious to think how these changes might affect other species besides the observed birds. I believe continuing to follow these trends would be very beneficial for the future, not only to continue observing the state of the environment, but to use as a guide for what should be done to protect it. With the more harmful effects of our changing climate becoming increasingly apparent (harsher storms, warmer temperatures, etc.), it is of utmost importance that we take care of the world we are living in to preserve these species that have been giving us all of this data in the first place, as well as the numerous other species we share the planet with. I don’t think it is an exaggeration to say that losing these species would be more than a loss of valuable data. It is quite possible that the data described in this article could be a great starting point for some new methods of environmental observation and protection.
Thank you for your time.
I am writing in response to your article “What Are the Birds Telling Us About Climate Change?” [News, Feb. 23, 2018]. I would like to start by saying the writing was very compelling and an informative read. As someone interested in both avians and climate change, it was fascinating to see the two connect in such an unexpected way. The fact that something as simple as migration patterns can be used to track the effects of global warming across different regions is pretty amazing. How remarkable it is that something as simple as a bird’s migration can graph even the most subtle of changes in regional temperatures. It is curious to see how these migration ranges and breeding patterns have been affected due to climate change, perhaps more curious to think how these changes might affect other species besides the observed birds. I believe continuing to follow these trends would be very beneficial for the future, not only to continue observing the state of the environment, but to use as a guide for what should be done to protect it. With the more harmful effects of our changing climate becoming increasingly apparent (harsher storms, warmer temperatures, etc.), it is of utmost importance that we take care of the world we are living in to preserve these species that have been giving us all of this data in the first place, as well as the numerous other species we share the planet with. I don’t think it is an exaggeration to say that losing these species would be more than a loss of valuable data. It is quite possible that the data described in this article could be a great starting point for some new methods of environmental observation and protection.
Thank you for your time.
Madeline Kerr
