Bigger Birds in Central California, Courtesy of Global Climate Change, Study Suggests

Written By: Samantha Bernickus Resource: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111031154127.htm Summary: Researchers have found that in California birds seem to be getting bigger and they asked themselves why. They found that the birds are getting bigger because of the climate change and they were a little surprised to see this so they digged a little further into it. Also they thought that since the world has gotten more hot over the past 100 years that the birds would shrink due to heat, where as when its cold they need to store body fat which makes them bigger. So they tagged over 14,000 birds in different places around the world and came to the conclusion that climate is one of the reasons birds wings and bodies are getting bigger. They suggest that parts of the reasons that the birds are getting bigger is because of plant growth and increased climate capability. Critique: I wanted to read in the article if this could have any harm on the birds or if they could get any larger then they already are, and if so then how big? Though the article did not state these answers to my questions, therefore this article is interesting to learn about but it doesn't answer all my questions. Impact: This article does have an impact on people because it makes them think about the possibilities that could happen, and also make them wonder what could happen if the birds tend to keep getting bigger along with other animals.