Changing Climate

Global warming associated with pollution by greenhouse gases is making its presence felt in West Wales. Species such as Little Egret which seldom ever occurred in Britain are spreading their range north and are now regularly encountered in our coastal inlets such as Solva Harbour. Research by Oxford University shows that the number of wild parrots in Britain is rising at 30% per year, and that we may actually have a wild parrot population of over 20,000! Read more.... The fact that these parrots are native to South America, India and Asia surely tells us that our British climate is experiencing more than a hiccup in it's patterns.

Although some people may appreciate seeing uncommon visitors to our shores, that would normally have been put off by our cooler climate, this warming trend when applied to animal and plant movements really is cause for concern.

Another species to expand it's range due to our warming climate is the Harlequin Ladybird. Specimens have been reported from West Wales, causing concern over our native ladybird species which are smaller, less voracious predators than the Harlequin. Not only does the Harlequin compete with our ladybirds for food, it has actually been shown to prey on them.

Yet another uncommon visitor to cause chaos to our small island is the midge responsible for Bluetongue in cattle. How long before malaria-carrying mosquitos make their way here too?

So what data do we have for West Wales to support the Climate Change argument and the knock-on effect on our wildlife?

This map shows the movement of the 8 degrees centigrade isotherm some 50m up our hill slopes in West Wales between 1960 (green lines) and 2000 (red lines), there is a concordant loss of habitat for species that like cold conditions e.g. Red Grouse. It is important to gain an understanding of these influences before implementing management strategies based on incomplete understanding and this is where good biological information and its record over the long term can play a crucial role.

(these mean annual temperature contours were calculated from 4km2 grid climate data kindly supplied by the MetOffice, using ESRI's geostatistical extension)