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According to a scientific study on wildlife, at least 23,000 bats were killed in November by a huge heat wave in November. They fear that climate change will be responsible – and this will happen again.
Prior to November 2018, Australia had only about 75,000 fruit bats, also known as flying foxes. At least a third of that number are now dead. And researchers at Western Sydney University estimate that the expected number of deaths may even be higher.
Bats struggle when temperatures reach a fatal danger of 42ºC (107ºF). In the far north of Queensland, temperatures exceeded 107 ° F for at least two days in a row. Even at night, for a while he never plunged below 102 ° C – and it's terribly hot.
It is not surprising, then, that flying foxes from the Cairns area colonies simply fell dead from trees in the heat. Some locals have had to flee their homes to avoid the stench of thousands of rotting bat carcbades.
In Australia, this event was the second largest mbad mortality of flying foxes ever recorded. And this was the first for this particular species of bat fox.
Flying foxes were not the only species seriously affected by the heat wave. About 10,000 black flying foxes also died during the same period.
"This kind of event has not happened in Australia as far north since European colonization," said BBC environmentalist Justin Welbergen, president of the Australasian Bat Society. "[I]Projections on climate change clearly show [type of heat event] is about to degenerate into the future. "
This heat wave occurred at a particularly unfavorable time of the year, the beginning of the birth season. This means that hundreds of bats have become orphaned. About 850 of them ended up with lifeguards who serve as "bat keepers" until the little ones can fend for themselves.
For bats, it was a "biblical balance" at the end of life, says Welbergen.
Why does this happen?
Scientists believe that climate change is a factor – and perhaps an important factor.
"A certain proportion of such an extreme event can certainly be attributed statistically to climate change. I think the jury is no longer aware, "Welbergen told ABC News Australia. "Science is pretty much in agreement that it's a sign of things to come."
Unfortunately, this event is far from unusual in Australia. According to Welbergen, every year at least 1,000 flying foxes kill at least 1,000 flying foxes.
Since 2008, when Welbergen researchers have identified more than 30,000 victims since the colonization of the Cairns region, they have found evidence of at least nine other major events that have killed more than 100,000 bats.
"It's an unprecedented and shocking heat and stress event," said Evan Quartermain of The Humane Society International at The Guardian.
The long-term conservation of flying foxes in Australia is threatened by such numbers. However, we must not only worry about bats. Persistent and repeated extreme heat events such as these also endanger a number of other animals.
The drought on the Darling River killed hundreds of thousands of golden herring, silver perch and Murray cod, for example.
"If 30% of koalas die in a forest, who will be there to see them and count the corpses?", Is interviewed Welberger. "Flying foxes are Australian canaries in the coal mine."
Climate change is not just about rising sea levels and melting polar ice caps. It is also a relentless deadly heat. This is a problem we must act on now.
Photo credit: Getty Images
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