There is a lot of debate about when it's appropriate to release scientific reports. Must we wait until all the data is in to let people know about a serious concern? Non-migratory Northern Cardinals that wander northward in late summer/fall have been supported in winter survival by the railroads keeping snow cleared and spilling grain since the late 1800s, and then by bird feeding, so obviously climate change is not the only factor or even the primary factor behind their northward range expansion. It's ever so easy to look one by one behind the factors in this report and tear them apart, because nothing in nature is simple.
But as Christine says, this is a data-supported study, and a compelling one at that, looking into one important contributor to a host of range shifts and expansions of birds. It is the job of scientists to search for holes in this, and to fill them with ever-on-going research. But Audubon is not strictly a scientific organization--it is an advocacy group, advocating for the birds we love. Scientists are required within their discipline to be neutral: a scientist would have kept careful data about the decline of the Passenger Pigeon, noting the habitat destruction, the wanton shooting, and the market hunting, and even a century after the species was rendered extinct would be arguing with other scientists about which factor was most important in causing the extinction. It's the job of Audubon not to track the demise of various species of birds, but to prevent them, using honest and scientifically-based research, but not sitting on studies until every single factor can be teased out. I am a passionate advocate of scientific research, and I'm as quick to spot flaws in reports as any. But I'm also a passionate advocate of birds. I disagree that this report is premature, or that because there are certain deficiencies in some of the science at this point in time that the release should have been delayed. Every day that we delay putting out reports and press releases about the bad effects of climate change, the earth keeps warming. Audubon's role in this is similar to that of a person who comes upon a child bleeding profusely in the middle of a busy road. Was the child hit by a car, a bus, or a truck? Was it a semi, a dump truck, or a delivery truck? Fed-Ex or UPS? Let the forensic scientists argue the fine points. The child is bleeding and in the path of other trucks, and anyone with a heart as well as intelligence knows to get the child out of the path of more danger, stop the bleeding, and call for an ambulance. That's Audubon's role in the climate change debate, and this report is a sensible and timely action. -- Laura Erickson Somewhere at or between Duluth and Ithaca Twin Beaks! www.twinbeaks.blogspot.com iTunes podcast of For the BIrds http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=288123640 For the love, understanding, and protection of birds There is symbolic as well as actual beauty in the migration of birds. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature--the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after the winter. --Rachel Carson Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail. ---- Join or Leave mou-net:http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives:http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
