14 DAY TRIAL // A new report investigating how climate change and global warming are impacting on US's biodiversity argues that, throughout the past few years, extreme temperature have brought the American pika, a small mountain mammal, close to extinction.
The American pika is most commonly known as the “mountain bunny of the Rockies” and, as its nickname more than suggests, this particular species only thrives in cool, mountainous regions.
However, given the intense droughts that recently hit the US, it is not difficult to guess that, faced with ever-increasing temperatures, the American pikas had to go in search of other territories.
Thus, as reported by Think Progress, there have been increasingly few sightings of this animal in the Great Basin in Nevada, Utah and California.
The same source informs us that one of the researcher involved in carried out this study about America's remaining population made a case of how “Pikas are shifting their range to higher elevations in response to increased warming, and thus, their suitable habitat in being reduced.”
Furthermore, “In models designed to predict these patterns of lass, the importance of climatic factors has risen dramatically over the past decade.”
Because these small mammals are so quick in responding to the slightest of changes in the average temperature of their natural environment, specialists argue that they can be used as a living and breathing indicator of how climate change is steadily taking its toll on wildlife and remaining ecosystems.
Interestingly enough, in spite of complaints brought up by environmentalists and conservationist alike, the American pika is not listed as an endangered species, at least for the time being.
Thus, back in 2010 when this request was first made, the Obama administration considered that this mountain bunny of the Rockies can very well still fend for itself and therefore need not receive any additional help.
As was to be expected, green-heads are still trying to convince the national government that immediate measures must be taken to protect the country's biodiversity.