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Butterflies are vanishing out West. Scientists say climate change is to blame.
Environment Mar 04, 2021
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Hundreds of butterfly species across the American West are vanishing as the region becomes hotter, drier and more vulnerable to the effects of climate change, according to a study released Thursday. From California to Montana, and from New Mexico to Washington state, the populations of a majority of 450 butterfly species are dropping, according to observations by professionals and amateurs stretching back to the 1970s.
The loss of butterflies across Western forests and prairies, like the similar drop in bumblebees nationwide due to rising temperatures , is troubling because both insects play a key role in pollinating crops and wildflowers. And the findings may add to fears among researchers of a broader die-off of insects that could be underway everywhere from Germany to Puerto Rico and beyond — a potential and debated bugpocalypse that threatens to upend ecosystems across the world.
In the United States, the alarming butterfly decline is most evident in Western areas where balmy summer temperatures creep well into the fall, drying out vegetation and potentially disturbing the seasonal cycles of the fluttering insects as they prepare for cooler months. “The influence of climate change is driving those declines, which makes sense because they’re so widespread,” […]
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