Earthweek: a diary of the planet

For the week ending Friday, May 27.

Vanishing birds

Almost half of all known bird species are suffering population losses from climate change, habitat loss and overexploitation, a report says. “We are now witnessing the first signs of a new wave of extinctions of continentally distributed bird species,” says conservation biologist Alexander Lees from Britain’s Manchester Metropolitan University. He and colleagues at Cornell University and other institutions document how approximately 48% of bird species are believed to be experiencing population declines.

Monarch recovery

Experts at Mexico’s El Rosario butterfly sanctuary say there were 35% more monarch butterflies spending the past winter there than during the previous season. They suggest the colorful insects could be adapting to the changing climate by adjusting the date they begin migrating northward to the United States and Canada for the summer. “They left very late. We still had butterflies in April,” said Gloria Tavera of Mexico’s National Commission for Natural Protected Areas. The migration has been challenged by more extreme bouts of heat and drought, along with a loss of the milkweed that their caterpillars feed on north of the border. Illegal felling of trees around the sanctuary also threatens the species.

Sleepless heat

Not losing any sleep over climate change? Think again. Scientists looking at the impacts of global heating on humans find that the rising temperatures are negatively affecting sleep patterns around the world. Analysis of sleep-tracking wristbands from 48,000 people in 68 countries reveals that unusually hot nights are keeping people awake, causing them to lose about 44 hours of sleep on average each year.

Sandstorms

Many parts of the Middle East have suffered from an unprecedented series of blinding sandstorms this spring, sending thousands of people to hospitals with respiratory problems. Businesses and schools were forced to close because of the severity of the storms. Spanish sandstorm expert Carlos Pérez Garcia-Pando says unusual heat and drought this year in East Africa, the Middle East and Asia could have amplified some sandstorms. Other experts point to climate change and mismanagement of water resources as factors in the more frequent

Heat wave surge

Heat waves that have killed at least 90 people this spring across India and Pakistan may soon be ended by the southwest monsoon. But climate experts at the World Weather Attribution group say global heating has already made such deadly episodes 30 times more likely.

Leech invasion

Months of soggy conditions and floods across southeastern Australia have driven blood-sucking leeches into homes and yards. While common in the streams and low bushland of New South Wales, they are now popping up all around Sydney. “I was out fixing the gutters the other day, got inside and found three on my feet and thought I’d better take a bath, found two more, so I had five on me,” parasite expert Alexander Maier of the Australian National University told the Manly Observer. “Then we found another one in the kitchen, one in the bathroom and one coming down my skylight.”