This is how the animals were affected by the extreme weather in Europe

Baby birds fried in their nests and starving hedgehogs. Many animal species have had a tough time in the heat wave that swept over large parts of Europe during the summer.

Large parts of Europe were paralyzed during the summer by extreme heat and drought. For both humans and animals, the climate has meant great stress. Here are five examples of animal species that have been hit hard by the heat and drought in southern Europe in recent months.

1. Kestrels and other migratory birds

For many, the screeching of swifts is a classic sign of summer. In June, however, reports came from Spain that the unusually early and strong heat had taken a toll on their young. Nests under roof tiles and in wall cavities became like ovens.

– Hundreds of children have been found who probably died of overheating. Because many birds within a species breed at roughly the same time, a heat wave can hit reproduction hard, says Anderas Nord, who is associate professor at Lund University and who researches how animals are affected by climate change, among other things.

Even in France, researchers have warned that the heat has killed many baby birds, according to Andreas Nord.

How the birds in Europe are affected by extreme heat is relatively unexplored, according to Andreas Nord. But one effect is that migratory birds may find it more difficult to find food, making them less equipped for the demanding long flights. Birds also become easily overheated and when the temperatures rise, this can lead, among other things, to the parents not being able to feed their young as often as they should.

The mass death of birds seen in other parts of the world during extreme heat is now also noticeable on our continent, according to Andreas Nord.

– There have been big problems for the birds this summer in southern Europe – we are talking about biblical proportions in some places.

2. Butterflies

Many butterflies may find it difficult to find food for themselves and their larvae when the drought has burned away the plants they feed on. Even in Sweden, certain butterfly species were hit hard during the drought in 2018, according to Andreas Nord. Among other things, the number of scented grass butterflies was halved, and almost no larvae of the already-threatened weed net butterfly were found on Gotland, where it has its strongest stronghold.

– They have managed to recover now, but basically their entire reproduction was knocked out that year.

3. Hedgehogs

During the summer, a nature conservation association in Germany raised the alarm about starvation among hedgehogs, which found it difficult to find food as the worms dug deeper into the soil to escape the drought, at the same time that the insects became fewer.

– This type of animal that eats insects and worms can have a tough time when the drought makes the food disappear, says Andreas Nord.

4. Bumblebees

The chubby bumblebees are at risk of overheating in the same way as birds, and research shows that heat waves hit the bumblebees hard, which also affects the pollination of crops. And it is serious because wild pollinators are already in decline due to pesticides and shrinking habitats, points out Andreas Nord.

Insects in general find it difficult to adapt to rising temperatures and are more affected by global warming than previously thought, according to a recent study that includes more than a hundred different insect species.

5. Fishes

From France and Austria, among others, there have been reports of mass deaths of fish as a result of reduced water flows and dried up lakes.

Higher temperatures also make heat waves in the oceans more common, which has been shown to trigger mass deaths among marine animal species. The water becomes less oxygenated when it is heated – everything living below the surface finds it harder to breathe. And since most fish are thermophilic, and their body temperature is largely controlled by water temperature, heat affects their entire function.

As dry and hot summers are becoming more common in the wake of climate change, according to the scientific community, the problems for the animals will only get worse.

– What we saw this summer is just a foretaste of what the future will bring, says Andreas Nord.

But, he points out, many species have the ability to recover – if given the chance:

– It is based on the fact that there is some leeway, for example that they can move to where there is more food after a period of drought. But today we have used so much of the forest and land that there is hardly anywhere to go. If species are to have a chance to recover, we need to protect more of the land – because the pressure on the animals will only increase.

Facts

The extreme heat

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