Another strike against climate change zealots

Back in September I came across some false climate change comments that were made by Dr. Michael  Hutchins (Head of ABC Birds). People in Maine may at some time need this information to criticize the lock-step opinions being put forth by those representing the climate change industry.  

Probably everyone is aware the Polar Bear is one of the primary icons for selling climate change. The very cute cuddly Pika is another.

Dr. Michael Hutchins quote from a Nat Geo article............. " For example, the American pika, a small lagomorph (related to rabbits) which lives on talus slopes in alpine and subalpine habitats, is being heavily impacted by climate change. Local extinctions have increased ten-fold in the last decade and biologists have observed that the animals are moving to higher elevations as temperatures have increased (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110420081826.htm; Beever, E. and Wilkening, L. 2011. Playing by new rules:  Altered climates are affecting some pikas dramatically. The Wildlife Professional 5(3): 38-41).                                                                                                                                                    

For the record here are some corrections about Pikas and climate change.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

This is a very cute feisty animal that is quite adaptive and can be very secretive. It is also a nocturnal species in hot climates making observations far more difficult.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    I happen to know that Pikas can withstand very hot temperatures and warmer weather could actually help the Pikas in some areas by providing them more food sources than those in the alpine plant communities.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Pika extinctions (if they do exist) that are being mentioned in climate related articles, may be due to other undisclosed factors. I suspect these factors are not mentioned could be due to climate change biases or for monitory reasons.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Pikas may be migrating to lower and higher elevation plant communities with better food sources where they are harder for researchers to locate.                                                                      

Many areas of the Great Basin (Pika Habitat) are being overgrazed or developed and this will have a negative impact on Pika populations.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Pikas are members of the rabbit family. Population declines if real could be linked to predator/prey relationships.  These fluctuations have been well documented with rabbit species in Alaska and the Great Basin for decades.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

From my many travels over the years, I know of Pika families living in the very hot (110 plus temps) Sonora Desert outside Scottsdale, Arizona (approx 1500 feet elev.) and another population living in the sprawling hot lava flows (approx 3200 feet elev.) located in Northeastern CA.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        For anyone not familiar with these lava flows, they are a barren hot miserable place that can wear out a pair of boots in a day. The Pika there live underground during the day and come out at night or during cooler twilight hours. The CA lava population I found in 1985 is probably my discovery because I can not find any references to it.  (see Pika range map below)         

                                                                                                                                                     After reading the facts I have presented here, it should be hard for any reasonable person to believe any articles or studies that conclude that "Climate Change" is having a devastating impact on the cute cuddly Pika. The point here is that I know that scientific research dealing with climate change is being corrupted

Several Pika Articles related to Climate:                                                                                                                                                                        Shrinking range of pikas in California mountains linked to climate change

Study documents the disappearance of pikas from low-elevation sites and shows how ongoing global warming will further restrict their range in the future

February 02, 2015 By Tim Stephens

http://news.ucsc.edu/2015/02/pika-study.html

 CA Fish and Game Website  https://www.dfg.ca.gov/wildlife/nongame/CPC/americanpika.html      ...;                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           The American Pika

Pikas (Ochotona sp.) are small mammals related to rabbits that are found at mid to high elevations in North America and Eurasia. Specialized physiological and behavioral adaptations that enable pikas to tolerate cold environments also render them highly sensitive to warm temperatures. Vulnerability to warming coupled with relatively smaller land area available at higher elevations has raised concern for persistence of pikas and other montane small mammals in the face of climate change. The American pika (O. princeps) inhabits rocky mountain slopes of western North America. Limited information exists about climatic relationships of American pikas or other high-elevation mammals. Pikas have been petitioned for endangered species listing under federal and California state laws, increasing the urgency to:

• Inventory and map American pika populations;
• Monitor American pika population trends and status;
• Coordinate and expand knowledge of ecological and climate-impact science, and integrate American pika research with studies on other alpine mammals; and
• Develop and implement adaptation plans for the American pika

If we don’t do something about climate change, the pika is toast

http://qz.com/88931/if-we-dont-do-something-about-climate-change-th...

The American pika was to be the poster animal for combatting global warming (after the polar bear, of course). Environmentalists were going to use the US’s powerful endangered species laws to protect the pika and other wildlife threatened by climate change and thwart industrial development contributing to their demise. But greenies have lost a six-year fight to put the impossibly cute critter on the endangered species list, which shows just how difficult it is to repurpose twentieth century environmental laws to fight a twenty-first century catastrophe.