Minnesota Faces Loss Of Its Beloved Loon Due to Climate Change

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/09/11/3565598/climate-change-minnesota-loon/

by Katie Valentine Posted on September 11, 2014

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This week, the Audubon Society released a comprehensive report on the threats North America’s birds face from climate change. The report found that the common loon, Minnesota’s beloved state bird, is projected to have just 25 percent of its non-breeding season range and 44 percent of its breeding season range left by 2080.

Due to warming temperatures and changing weather patterns, the report states, “it looks all but certain that Minnesota will lose its iconic loons in summer by the end of the century.” The common loon has a better chance than some other birds of being able to adapt to a new, more northern habitat as the earth warms, but that still means Minnesota won’t have the loons its residents have long been used to.

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Loons aren’t the only state bird to be threatened by climate change. According to Audubon, the state birds of ten states, including Maryland’s Baltimore oriole and Louisiana’s brown pelican, could shift out of their representative states in the coming decades.

Looking beyond iconic state birds, the report found that nearly half of North America’s bird species face dwindling ranges as the planet warms, and some birds, including the eared grebe and the northern saw-whet owl, stand to lose almost 100 percent of their current ranges by 2080. Some of these birds will be able to adapt by moving northward or upward in elevation, but others won’t — Audubon’s Yarnold told the New York Times that when looking at the data from the report, “it’s hard to believe we won’t lose some species to extinction.”

“How many? We honestly don’t know. We don’t know which ones are going to prove heroically resilient,” Yarnold said.

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