Small species really tell the climate change story

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cientists often point to the large-scale effects of climate change as evidence of the phenomenon. Antartica is melting, cities are flooding and temperatures in some parts of the world may top 170ºF, climate scientists say.

But a look at seemingly subtle changes in the world around us can be just as illuminating. New research, published in the Journal of Animal Ecology, shows how climate change has affected more than 1,500 insect species collected from a single rooftop in Denmark over 18 years. As temperatures warmed, insects with an affinity for warm climates became more prevalent on the rooftop while some insect species with an affinity for cold climates disappeared, fleeing northward.

Read the Time story - “What 1,500 Bug Species on a Rooftop Tell Us About Climate Change.”