According to recent study, global warming has allowed moose to colonize large swaths of Alaskan tundra. But as moose take over one American state, they are vanishing from another. Rising temperatures are eliminating the animals from Minnesota.
“Moose are these large animals. They’re built for the cold,” said Glen GelGiudice, an ecologist at the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. “They carry a lot of body fat in the winter. They have very dark coats that will absorb solar radiation.” When temperatures rise, even just a little, the beasts risk overheating. Minnesota’s moose population has dropped in half over the last decade.
“If moose were to crash significantly further and disappear from Minnesota, it would be pretty devastating,” said GelGiudice. “Everybody would consider that a very, very serious loss to the state for so many reasons.”
Jeremy Deaton writes for Nexus Media, a syndicated newswire covering climate, energy, policy, art and culture. You can follow him @deaton_jeremy.
