2 days agoShareSaveGeorgina RannardClimate and science correspondentShareSaveTim Dodd/BBC NewsBut does it matter if autumn conditions come early? The Wildlife Trusts says this is a sign of “nature shutting down” and that it is likely to have impacts into the winter and next year.”Some things are not dying, but they’re not thriving, they’re not growing, they’re not photosynthesizing. They’re going into survival mode,” says Kathryn Brown, director of climate change and evidence at the Wildlife Trusts.”The overriding thing is it’s making everything much more chaotic for wildlife,” she says.Earthworms, which feed badgers and hedgehogs, are living inside rock hard and dry soil, meaning the animals could struggle to dig to find them and may have to travel further for food.Birds will look for fruits like blackberries to “sustain them through the autumn and winter,” she says. But where the crop comes early, the birds could go hungry.Bees are also showing signs of shutting down for the winter, after flowering plants finished producing pollen and nectar in the hot weather. That could leave bees without enough food.It will take time to work out the role of climate change in the heatwaves this year but scientists are clear that it will have boosted the heat.”I’m very worried about what we’re seeing already, and this is just a point that we’re passing through on the way to much more extreme conditions,” says Kathryn.”Species have evolved to exist in a seasonal cycle. If that cycle is breaking down, those species will break down as well. We know it’s a real risk we’ll lose huge chunks of nature due to climate impacts.”More on this story …
