When millions of migrating bats fly toward their breeding cave near San Antonio, Texas, each spring, the shadowy, swirling swarm is so dense, it shows up on weather radar. Scientists reviewed years of that radar data and found that the flying mammals are arriving about two weeks earlier than they did just two decades ago.
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| Millions of Brazilian free-tailed bats spend summers in the Bracken Cave near San Antonio, Texas. A study finds they're arriving earlier and staying longer as the planet warms. |
The scientists suspect the changes in the bats' timing and seasonal cycles are linked with the way global warming is altering the food chain and weather patterns.
Spring is warming faster than other seasons in many parts of the world, including Texas. An earlier bat migration fits with many pieces of the climate change puzzle, including earlier migrations of some bird species and earlier blossoming of many plants, said Phillip Stepanian, a meteorologist with Rothamsted Research who co-authored a new study in the scientific journal Global Change Biology on bat migration using the radar data.
Read the Inside Climate News story by Bob Berwyn - “Bat swarms tracked by weather Radar Reveal Earlier Migration as Planet Warms.
