The global warming quick weight loss plan

Scarlet Tanager
Originally uploaded by Laura Erickson

Hmmm. A new study shows that we Scarlet Tanagers living today are more than 2 percent lighter than our great great great great grandparents from back in the 1960s. According to the BBC's Earth News:

Songbirds in the US are getting smaller, and climate change is suspected as the cause.

A study of almost half a million birds, belonging to over 100 species, shows that many are gradually becoming lighter and growing shorter wings.

This shrinkage has occurred within just half a century, with the birds thought to be evolving into a smaller size in response to warmer temperatures.

However, there is little evidence that the change is harmful to the birds.

Details of the discovery are published in the journal Oikos.

Read the whole article here.