{"id":939,"date":"2009-08-03T07:11:00","date_gmt":"2009-08-03T11:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/2009\/08\/03\/of-bats-and-ash-trees\/"},"modified":"2009-08-03T07:11:00","modified_gmt":"2009-08-03T11:11:00","slug":"of-bats-and-ash-trees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/2009\/08\/03\/of-bats-and-ash-trees\/","title":{"rendered":"Of bats and ash trees"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>
Climate change is a big deal. Behind the micro narratives and the daily turbulence of our busy lives, our world is changing at speeds that boggle the mind.<\/p>\n

Humans are clearly the engine driving this planetary evolution. In part it’s the carbon we pump into the air.<\/p>\n

But it’s also the critters we carry with us as we hustle and bustle around the globe.<\/p>\n

In the short to mid term, invasive species transported by people will likely have a far more profound impact on our ecosystems than changing temperature.<\/p>\n

Chris Knight reported recently in the Adirondack Enterprise<\/a> on the Emerald ash borer, a type of beetle now in Western New York, Quebec and Ontario.<\/p>\n

This invader, carried in bundles of firewood, is likely to kill most of the trees along the shore of Lake Flower in my home town of Saranac Lake.<\/p>\n

It’s also likely that white nose syndrome<\/a>, the fungus that’s eradicating bats in the Northeast, was introduced from Europe by humans.<\/p>\n

(Candace Page, the Burlington Free Press’s<\/a> environmental writer, had a brilliant piece about WNS in Sunday’s edition.)<\/p>\n

The catalog of invaders seems to grow daily: zebra mussels, lamprey, “creek snot,” Eurasian watermilfoil…<\/p>\n

As these organisms eclipse or weaken native populations, altering the food chain, we could see dramatic changes in the fabric of our forests and waterways.<\/p>\n

This has happened before on a smaller scale. Dutch elm disease was likely introduced to the United States in a shipment of wooden furniture from the Netherlands.<\/p>\n

Through the 1900s, the fungus altered the landscape of urban America, destroying many of the trees that decorated avenues and neighborhoods.<\/p>\n

The event we experience could be far more dramatic. What happens if 90% of bat species are abruptly extirpated?<\/p>\n

What happens if ash trees — 7% of the forests in New York state — are decimated?<\/p>\n

Add to those stresses the incremental pressure of changing temperatures and weather patterns.<\/p>\n

In short, humans are conducting a kind of accidental experiment, heating the planet and mixing its ingredients with a giant spoon.<\/p>\n

The twist, of course, is that we live inside the Petri dish.<\/p>\n

Tomorrow during our regional broadcast, I’ll report on white nose syndrome research continuing in the Champlain town of Willsboro.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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