In such a hot day, the animals were roasted and deformed?!

Tianlan 2023 focuses on air quality and climate change, day 222

This week, we finally ushered in the beginning of autumn. In the past summer, people in the northern hemisphere have been experiencing the baptism of the hottest day in history. When July 4 just broke the highest global average temperature in human monitoring records, people thought they were lucky enough to witness history, but the record was broken again the next day. However, this is not the end. More intense heat swept in on July 6. The warmest record in "at least 100,000 years" tortured residents in the northern hemisphere, and even nearly 100 Indian neighbors left us forever because of the high temperature (don't ask me why the heat only tortures us in the northern hemisphere, because it is winter in the southern hemisphere now!)

As waves of heat make the earth hot,

Humans can't help but feel their hearts fluttering.

What on earth is going on with this high temperature?

I had to put the iced watermelon in my hand.

Playing mahjong in cold water,

Eating popsicles in the air-conditioned room,

Then sing along with DT:

"I can't remember a summer this hot."

● The best way to cool down in summer - watermelon popsicle. Image source: Pixabay

● Humans playing mahjong in the river. Source: West China Metropolis Daily

● Same for me. Image source: 2003 Soul Power Concert

In short (must read): When faced with high temperatures, the size of an animal's body or certain parts will change, similar to how a person's lips will turn into a sausage mouth when they are instantly exposed to extremely high temperatures (not really).

● Changes in human lips after exposure to high temperatures. Image source: "Eastern Success, Western Success"

In detail (skip to the dividing line): In 1847, German biologist Carl Bergmann discovered that the same species of warm-blooded animals will become larger as the latitude or altitude of the living area increases. Because as the body size increases, the ratio of the animal's surface area to the animal's volume becomes smaller, so it can better preserve heat. This theory is called Bergmann's law. Bergmann's law reflects the relationship between the size of an animal and the change in temperature, that is, the lower the temperature, the larger the animal's body size, and the higher the temperature, the smaller the animal's body size (Ryding, S. 2021).

In 1877, American zoologist Joel Assaf Allen proposed that the size of an animal's limbs or other appendages is also related to temperature: homeothermic animals living in warm areas have larger limbs than those living in colder areas, because this is more conducive to heat dissipation. This is Allen's law.

Note: Bergman's Law and Allen's Law are both laws rather than axioms because they only apply to specific animals and not in all situations.

These two theories make blue tits want to applaud and parrots want to grow up.

Between 1968 and 2002, the average annual surface temperature in central England increased by 1.078°C, causing the weight of local blue tits to decrease and their wingspan to increase (Yoram Yom-Tov, et al. 2016).

● Blue tit. Image source: unsplash

As the saying goes, a beak without hair cannot do things well. But people don’t know that a beak without hair cannot store heat well. For birds, heat exchange mainly occurs in the beak and legs without hair. Over the past 100 years, Australia’s average surface temperature has risen by 0.8℃, and since 1871, the beak area of ​​Australia’s muga parrots, red-crowned cockatoos, and red-rumped parrots has increased by 10.4%, 10%, and 7%, respectively, and has shown a significant positive correlation with temperature changes. (Ryding, S. 2021)

● Muga Parrot (left) Red-crowned Cockatoo (right). Image source/unsplash

Other studies have found that the ears, tails and other protruding parts of mammals are also affected by rising temperatures. These changes can be observed in pigs, mice, rabbits and other animals. (Weaver, ME, & Ingram, DL 1969; Serrat, MA, King, D., & Lovejoy, CO 2008; Williams, CK, & Moore, RJ 1989)

● Second Brother’s enviable skill is that he can transform his legs into long legs in high temperatures.

Image source/Weaver, ME, & Ingram, DL 1969

Humans admire the strong adaptability of cute animals, but this adaptation is not without disadvantages. For example, an overly large beak may hinder eating, and the thicker the limbs, the more energy is required for growth. This may affect the ability of the little cuties to find food and fight against natural enemies in the dangerous nature, and does not make their fighting power explode.

Moreover, not all animals can do this kind of "self-change". The Bay butterfly (Euphydryas editha bayensis) in the San Francisco Bay Area of ​​California was listed as a threatened species under the US Federal Endangered Species Act in 1987 due to fluctuations in precipitation frequency caused by climate change and habitat loss (McLaughlin JF, Hellmann JJ, Boggs CL, et al. 2002). And since records began in the 1930s, 7 of the 25 pika populations in the Great Basin of the western United States have become extinct (Beever et al. 2003).

●I am a pika. Image source: unsplash

Rabbits are so cute that it would be sad for future humans if they couldn’t see them in real life.

Therefore, we humans who possess love and kindness (air conditioning, watermelon, mahjong), let us work hard to curb the continued global warming in order to protect the lovely birds, butterflies, rabbits, and the little cuties who may be affected in the future, so that people and nature can coexist harmoniously in a comfortable climate environment.

As the saying goes:

Do you know what harm high temperature can do to small animals?

How to help small animals avoid high temperatures?

Please leave us a message

Written by: Lu Wenqi, Wang Si, Zhang Weihao

Design: Ning Ning, Hara

Typesetting: Ives

References:

The Planet Saw Its Hottest Day on Record This Week. It's a record that will be broken again and again, https://edition.cnn.com/2023/07/05/world/hottest-day-world-climate-el-nino-intl/index.html, 2023-07-05/2023-07-12

Earth reaches hottest day ever recorded 4 days in a row, https://abcnews.go.com/US/4th-july-breaks-record-highest-temperature-measured/story?id=100702850, 2023-07-07/2023-07-12

Ryding, S. et al. 2021. Shape-shifting: changing animal morphologies as a response to climatic warming. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, VOLUME 36, ISSUE 11, pp.1036–1048

Gardner, JL et al. 2011. Declining body size: a third universal response to warming? Trends in Ecology and Evolution. 26, pp. 285–291

Campbell-Tennant, DJE et al. 2015. Climate-related spatial and temporal variation in bill morphology over the past century in Australian parrots. J. Biogeogr. 42, pp. 1163–1175

Yoram Yom-Tov; Shlomith Yom-Tov; Jonathan Wright; Chris JR Thorne; Richard Du Feu. 2006. Recent changes in body weight and wing length among some British passerine birds. 112(1), pp. 91–101.

Weaver, ME, & Ingram, DL 1969. Morphological Changes in Swine Associated with Environmental Temperature. Ecology, 50(4), pp. 710–713.

Serrat, MA, King, D., & Lovejoy, CO 2008. Temperature regulates limb length in homeotherms by directly modulating cartilage growth. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 105(49), pp. 19348–19353.

Williams, CK, & Moore, RJ 1989. Phenotypic Adaptation and Natural Selection in the Wild Rabbit, Oryctolagus cuniculus, in Australia. The Journal of Animal Ecology, 58(2), p. 495.

McLaughlin JF, Hellmann JJ, Boggs CL, et al. 2002. Climate change hastens population extinctions. PNAS, 99: 6070-6074

Jain, N, 2015. Complex effects of Nitrogen Pollution and Grazing on Nectar resources of the Adult Bay Checkerspot Butterfly (Euphydryas editha bayensis). Master's Theses. 4640. p.10.

BeeverE.A. et al,2003.Patterns of Apparent Extirpation among Isolated Populations of Pikas (Ochotona princeps) in the Great Basin, Journal of Mammalogy, Volume 84, Issue 1,pp.37–54.pp.1036–1048

Gardner, JL et al. 2011. Declining body size: a third universal response to warming? Trends in Ecology and Evolution. 26, pp. 285–291

Campbell-Tennant, DJE et al. 2015. Climate-related spatial and temporal variation in bill morphology over the past century in Australian parrots. J. Biogeogr. 42, pp. 1163–1175

Yoram Yom-Tov; Shlomith Yom-Tov; Jonathan Wright; Chris JR Thorne; Richard Du Feu. 2006. Recent changes in body weight and wing length among some British passerine birds. 112(1), pp. 91–101.

Weaver, ME, & Ingram, DL 1969. Morphological Changes in Swine Associated with Environmental Temperature. Ecology, 50(4), pp. 710–713.

Serrat, MA, King, D., & Lovejoy, CO 2008. Temperature regulates limb length in homeotherms by directly modulating cartilage growth. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 105(49), pp. 19348–19353.

Williams, CK, & Moore, RJ 1989. Phenotypic Adaptation and Natural Selection in the Wild Rabbit, Oryctolagus cuniculus, in Australia. The Journal of Animal Ecology, 58(2), p. 495.

McLaughlin JF, Hellmann JJ, Boggs CL, et al. 2002. Climate change hastens population extinctions. PNAS, 99: 6070-6074

Jain, N, 2015. Complex effects of Nitrogen Pollution and Grazing on Nectar resources of the Adult Bay Checkerspot Butterfly (Euphydryas editha bayensis). Master's Theses. 4640. p.10.

BeeverE.A. et al, 2003. Patterns of Apparent Extirpation among Isolated Populations of Pikas (Ochotona princeps) in the Great Basin, Journal of Mammalogy, Volume 84, Issue 1, pp.37–54.