Global Warming Threatens Great Tits All Over The World

Image: irio.jysk via Flickr

Alarming news for everyone who loves great tits. Researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology have just published findings that global warming, shorter winters, and earlier springs could wipe out all of the world’s great tits, perhaps within the next 80 years.

Image: andabata via Flickr

Great tits, of course, are non-migratory songbirds commonly found throughout Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. You’re surely familiar with many sizes and varieties of tits, but great tits are especially endangered because the insect larvae are hatching much earlier as the planet gets warmer, and the winters are shorter and less severe. 

Image: hedera.baltica via Flickr

“Given conditions with big greenhouse gas emissions, the great tits won’t always be able to keep up with the changes in the larvae supply,” associate professor Emily Simmonds told the publication Science Daily.

Image: pete. #hwcp via Flickr

Just look at this pair of great tits. Two great tits often jiggle side by side, as the chick’s tits tend to have co-parenting arrangements, generally hatching two broods per year. But according to Science Daily, “whole populations of great tits will simply disappear by the year 2100 because they aren’t able to procure enough food for their young.”

Image: chapmankj75 via Flickr

We like great tits. We like having great tits. But the world needs to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions if we’re going to keep having great tits. If you want to just sit and stare at great tits all day, here’s a big gallery of pictures of great tits from photographers who are willing to show you their tits for free.