Signs of climate change come to the Appalachians

[theHandpuppet]

Note: If you have articles/information to share about the subject of climate change in the Appalachians, feel free to add to this thread. It would be most appreciated!

Study: Salamanders in the Appalachians are smaller
By BRUCE SMITH
Associated Press
June 29, 2014

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Some scientists suggest it could be still another sign of climate change: Salamanders in the Appalachian Mountains are getting smaller, they say, because in a drier, warmer climate, the little cold-blooded creatures use more energy to stay alive.

"As their temperature rises, all their physiological rates increase," said Michael Sears, a Clemson University biologist. "All else being equal, that means there is less energy for growth."

In a study earlier this year in the journal Global Change Biology, Sears and other researchers compared museum specimens of salamanders collected over a half century beginning in 1957 with those measured at the same sites in 2011 and 2012.

In all, they measured almost 9,500 adult salamanders and found their bodies were on average about 8 percent smaller after 1980 than in the earlier decades....

Read more here: http://www.bnd.com/2014/06/29/3280135/study-salamanders-in-the-appalachians.html#storylink=cpy