Posted by
BLOGASSAULT on Wednesday, January 28, 2009 7:02:32 PM
The worst-case scenario scientists examined sees the average European temperature rise by 4.1°C by 2080. In that case over 95 per cent of the present land occupied by 70 different butterflies would become too warm for continued survival. The best case-scenario sees a 2.4°C temperature rise. Even this would mean that 50 per cent of the land occupied by 147 different butterflies would become too warm for them to continue to exist there. Many butterflies will largely disappear from where they are regularly seen now. The Small Tortoiseshell will become absent from a huge swathe of middle and southern Europe and will become restricted to northern Europe. Under the worst-case scenario, rare species like the Spanish Festoon Zerynthia rumina would experience a 97% loss from Spain and Southern France, and the Apollo Parnassius apollo would suffer a 76% loss from mountainous areas.
I bet I could retire on 15% of the funds these scientists recieved to do this study and create this "altlas".