Moose Cannot Handle Gobal Warming

Scientists are alarmed by the decreasing moose population in New Hampshire and Minnesota. In Minnesota twenty years ago there were two geographically separate moose populations. Since the 90’s one of them has declined to less than 100 moose, the population used to be made up of around 4000. The population that is found northeast is rapidly dropping at least twenty five percent each year, and now there are less than 3000 moose in that region of Minnesota. This rapid decrease in the moose population has made wildlife officials suspend all moose hunting as of right now. The decrease of the population is left unsure as of right now, but many scientists are quick to blame the climate change. A shorter winter equals a much longer fall; the animals need the cold weather. A decrease in snow has also been proven to affect the lives of moose, along with the high counts of ticks from the longer fall sessions. Exhaustion from the short winter and trying to stay cool has really taken a toll on the moose and can lead to death. Bark beetles thrive in the warmer weather and a recent has pinned that species of beetles to the decline in moose deaths also. The moose now more than ever are left more exposed than before because of the loss of trees, so it is easy for humans and predators such as wolves to find them. The climate change has not only impacted the moose population, but it has also impacted the tourist population. Each year around 115 million is brought in by moose watching, the tourists are not coming as often because the trips do not always insure a moose sighting because of the lower population. Scientists are hard at work trying to get the bottom of the deaths; they have started tagging moose to make it easier to find them once they have died. Doing the scientists have a better chance to find out the cause of the death; they have such high levels of body fat that decompose quickly; after around 24 the necropsy has little value to the scientists. To me it seems like the scientists that are studying the moose have a good idea about what the cause of the deaths is really from. It has a lot to do with the climate more than anything; the climate is taking a toll on the animals. Because of the warm weather striving to stay cool is hard; the animals need snow, and the cooler weather after a long summer. Since they are experiencing a longer fall, the moose now has to work hard through those warm days because they weather could still reach the 60s in the fall or maybe even a little higher. Hunting the animal should no longer be allowed until the population is at an all-time high again, and they need to be controlled. The scientists should create a spray that could potentially kill off a lot of the ticks and of course not harm the moose. Moose do not groom off ticks as deer do, so by creating something that can keep the ticks away maybe the moose would have a better chance of living. The climate problem is a hard thing to solve because you can now physically alter the weather… So hopefully by solving the tick problem the moose can find some way to adapt to the longer falls. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/15/science/earth/something-is-killing-off-the-moose.html?ref=science&_r=0