Russ Steele
Tom Knudson, at the Sac Bee Sierra Summit blog, did several articles on the American Pika in the Sierra, claiming it was headed for extinction due to global warming. There was no data to support any rapid temperature change in the Sierra, but Tom was just sure this little creature was doomed by human caused global warming. Hummm.
Story in the LA Times
Story in the LA Times
The Obama administration Thursday declined to list the American pika as endangered, denying environmentalists' contention that the tiny mountain-dwelling creature will be unable to survive climate change.
The rabbit-like mammal lives on the high slopes of California's Sierra Nevada and in parts of nine other Western states. It is highly sensitive to small changes in temperature.
Larry Crist, a Utah field supervisor for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which reviewed scientific literature on the pika, said the creature can adapt and find suitable habitat despite a predicted summertime rise of 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit in the animal's current range by 2050.
"We believe that in some low elevations pikas are likely to decline, but we see no danger of extinction through 2050," Crist said, adding that there are no reliable estimates of the creature's total population.
