By Will Hamernick, Franny Matlak, and Morgan Savage Period 2 December 11 th

There is a predicted degrees Celsius increase for the next century across the United States and Canada. With the evidence from this graph, that analysis is strongly supported because from the 1960’s to the 2000’s the temperature increased from as low as -0.5 to as high as 0.6. This has already been a factor in Species Distribution and will be an even greater factor with the future predictions

An example of an effected animal is the Canada Lynx, who lives in snow for at least four months of the year. The predicted future climate change could reduce snow cover fit for the Canada Lynxes habitat by 10% to 20%. This temperature change could force the Canada Lynx to move North, eliminating them from the lower 48 states.

There has been quite a few mild winters recently, and has greatly affected hibernation patterns for some animals. Because of this suddenly increase in climate, animals are napping less and this is a bad thing. When animals hibernate, they slowly use the energy that they saved up in their fat because the food is scarce. Since they are spending less time hibernating, they can become out of synch with their environment. In England, a warm winter caused hedgehog mothers to give birth late in the year and the offspring did not have enough time to put on enough weight for hibernation.

Polar Bears in Nunavut (Canada) have their numbers shrinking due to the fact that the ice is melting earlier in the year. "The bears have less time to feed at the best time of year in order to lay on the fat they fast on through the open-water season in the summer and fall," Stirling said. (National Geographic) Rather than in the water, the bears are spending more time on land but they hunt in the water, causing many to starve.

Rising temperatures are bringing earlier bird migration patterns Timing of the migration is critical to the health of the species They have to time it right so they can balance arriving on breeding grounds after there’s no longer a risk of severe winter conditions. If they get it wrong, they may die or may not produce as many offspring. A change in migration could begin to contribute to population decline, putting many species at risk for extinction.

More information about Hibernation Patterns being affected - warming-effects-may-kill-off-hibernating-animals/765 warming-effects-may-kill-off-hibernating-animals/765 More information about Migration Patterns - environmental-degradation environmental-degradation Information About the Nearly Extinct Polar Bears -

Canada Lynx Photo Second Canada Lynx Photo - live/photos/000/482/cache/lynx-snow-canada_48276_990x742.jpg live/photos/000/482/cache/lynx-snow-canada_48276_990x742.jpg Map Picture - ge_view ge_view Polar Bear Picture html 51.html Baby Hedgehog - content/uploads/2010/12/baby-hedgehog-cute jpeghttp:// content/uploads/2010/12/baby-hedgehog-cute jpeg

"Climate Change And Species Distributions." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 05 Aug Web. 8 Dec "Hibernating Animals Suffer Dangerous Wakeup Calls Due to Warming." National Geographic. National Geographic Society, n.d. Web. 8 Dec "Polar Bears Suffering as Arctic Summers Come Earlier, Study Finds." National Geographic. National Geographic Society, n.d. Web. 8 Dec