100,000 bats fall from Australian skies due to heat wave
So, climate change deniers, you think the deep freeze that America has just been through is proof that there is no climate change, eh? Maybe you should spin the globe halfway around and take a look at what’s going on in Australia at exactly the same time. The northeastern state of Queensland has been buried in dead bats that have fallen from the sky. The cause is extreme heat as temperatures reach record highs.
Conservation worker Louise Saunders said, “It’s a horrible, cruel way to die. Anything over 43 degrees [Celsius, or 109F] and they just fall. We’re just picking up those that are just not coping and are humanely euthanizing what we can.”
Bat carcasses are rotting on the ground and in trees.
As if that trauma weren’t enough, the stench of 100,000 bat carcasses rotting on the ground is even worse for residents of the affected districts. The International Business Times reported that “hundreds of bats were starting to decompose in bushes and trees with maggots eating the rotten flesh.” But when local residents have tried to clean them up, many have been bitten or scratched by bats that have not quite expired. At least 16 people have had to get anti-viral treatment due to close contact with the bats.
Nor is the extreme weather over. Temperatures continue to climb and heat is spreading to other parts of Australia. Some areas are likely to reach 122 F yet this week. According to the Bureau of Meteorology, temperature records were broken in 34 areas from Dec. 30th to Jan. 4th.
The deaths affect the whole ecosystem
The overall effect is likely to be devastating and far-reaching. Michael Beatty, a spokesman for the local SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) said, “The heatwave was basically a catastrophe for all the bat colonies in south-east Queensland. That’s obviously going to have a pretty disturbing impact on those colonies and those colonies are vital to our ecosystem.”
For those who may think, So what, it’s just bats?, consider this. Bats eat destructive insects, pollinate plants, and distribute seeds. Whatever decimates bats, decimates the whole environment of which they are a part — including those things upon which humans depend. In addition, large numbers of other animals — parrots, kangaroos, emus — have also perished.
Professional crews have been dispatched to clean up the carcasses that have already fallen, except in the bushlands where further disruption of the colonies is feared. However, as the damage continues to increase, the degree of recovery possible becomes more uncertain.
100,000 bats fall from sky in Australia due to extreme heat
So, climate change deniers, you think the deep freeze that America has just been through is proof that there is no climate change, eh? Maybe you should spin the globe halfway around and take a look at what’s going on in Australia at exactly the same time. The northeastern state of Queensland has been buried in dead bats that have fallen from the sky. The cause is extreme heat as temperatures reach record highs.
Conservation worker Louise Saunders said, “It’s a horrible, cruel way to die. Anything over 43 degrees [Celsius, or 109F] and they just fall. We’re just picking up those that are just not coping and are humanely euthanizing what we can.”
Bat carcasses are rotting on the ground and in trees.
As if that trauma weren’t enough, the stench of 100,000 bat carcasses rotting on the ground is even worse for residents of the affected districts. The International Business Times reported that “hundreds of bats were starting to decompose in bushes and trees with maggots eating the rotten flesh.” But when local residents have tried to clean them up, many have been bitten or scratched by bats that have not quite expired. At least 16 people have had to get anti-viral treatment due to close contact with the bats.
Nor is the extreme weather over. Temperatures continue to climb and heat is spreading to other parts of Australia. Some areas are likely to reach 122 F yet this week. According to the Bureau of Meteorology, temperature records were broken in 34 areas from Dec. 30th to Jan. 4th.
The deaths affect the whole ecosystem
The overall effect is likely to be devastating and far-reaching. Michael Beatty, a spokesman for the local SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) said, “The heatwave was basically a catastrophe for all the bat colonies in south-east Queensland. That’s obviously going to have a pretty disturbing impact on those colonies and those colonies are vital to our ecosystem.”
For those who may think, So what, it’s just bats?, consider this. Bats eat destructive insects, pollinate plants, and distribute seeds. Whatever decimates bats, decimates the whole environment of which they are a part — including those things upon which humans depend. In addition, large numbers of other animals — parrots, kangaroos, emus — have also perished.
Professional crews have been dispatched to clean up the carcasses that have already fallen, except in the bushlands where further disruption of the colonies is feared. However, as the damage continues to increase, the degree of recovery possible becomes more uncertain.
100,000 bats fall from sky in Australia due to extreme heat