[zephyr]

I found this map in the online Stranger blog today and a link to the University of Washington article about the movement of animals due to climate change. A quote from the article followed by the interactive map. Scientists predict that as Earth warms and climate patterns morph in response, animals will be forced to move to survive. That usually means hightailing it to higher latitudes as equatorial areas become too hot and dry. This movement pattern has happened fluidly and naturally in the past as climates have shifted, but now with human developments such as cities, highways and agriculture, critical animal migrations will be limited in surprising and troubling ways. The University of Washington and The Nature Conservancy have created an animated map showing where mammals, birds and amphibians are projected to move in the Western Hemisphere in response to climate change. The visualization draws upon flow models from electronic circuit theory, taking inspiration from existing visualizations of wind flow across the U.S. Rather fascinating seeing all the traffic through the Appalachians. Also the Great Lakes becomes a dead end between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron--just like in a corn maze. Enjoy. ~z

[gb]

My, that is quite interesting. I recall having seen a similar map about annual bird migrations across NA. Looks like the S/SE becomes essentially uninhabitable.