Staring us in the face.....

Another warning sign about imbalance and dis-equilibrium. The news just in from Butterfly Conservation is of dramatic declines in some species in the U.K. The scientists, under the watchful eye of their Chairman Sir David Attenborough (who perhaps has a unique experience of the interdependency of life's diversity around planet earth), are linking this to changes in the weather last summer. This affected the availability of food, affecting timing and success of reproduction. Butterflies are indicator species of healthy diversity and habitat change and we can watch them closely.

So what of homo sapiens? Since writing the last post, below, I was reminded that some studies have shown a greater proportion of girls are born following drought conditions. O.K., so we are not independent of our environment. We are seeing a more dynamic climate, with more extreme events. There are food riots occuring in several places around the world. Is reproductive success the next factor to monitor, and population decline inevitable? (Lovelock of course would say this is Gaia rebalancing).

(Thanks to Aveling Artworks for the (South American) butterfly artwork that stares us in the face above)