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PRESS RELEASE: Immediate
Edinburgh International Science Festival
Monday 5 April 2004, 7.30-9.00 p.m.
Royal Botanic Gardens, Inverleith Row
Organised by the Society, Religion and Technology Project, Church of Scotland
A talk and discussion about the implications of climate change
for the natural heritage of Scotland.
by Dr Noranne Ellis, Strategic Science Adviser, Scottish Natural Heritage.
and Dr Donald Bruce, Society, Religion and Technology Project, Church of Scotland
Climate scientists say Scotland could warm up by 1.5-2.0oC within 50 years, to become warmer than at any time since the last Ice Age. For some of Scotland's wildlife it could be bad news as things get hotter, wetter and stormier.
Scotland has already warmed enough that some southerly species are now breeding in Scotland, like the nuthatch, a bird of old woodlands, and some butterflies. Whereas species of the south can move north, where do our northerly and mountain species go? The Scottish primrose that blooms along coasts in Caithness and Orkney, and the snow bunting and Arctic hare that rely on snow cover on the mountains, are potentially under threat … because there is nowhere else to go.
Dr Ellis will describe what is happening, the latest predictions, and conservation strategies that could help.
It's a thousand years since as there was as much warming as we had during the twentieth century. But does the loss a few species matter, here or there, compared with all the extinctions throughout evolutionary history? Dr Bruce argues that it matters profoundly. Humans are stewards of the living ecology of creation, not owners of a resource that's just there for our own use. Our fellow dwellers on the planet matter because they are God's creatures first. Natural selection involves adapting or dying out, but never before has human behaviour wiped out so many species. We have a duty to save fellow creatures, within reason. But how far should we go?
Our burning of coal, oil and gas, our cars and aeroplanes all add up to levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere greater than for almost half a million years and they continue to rise. To bring levels back to stability will mean challenging choices for all our lives as well as for policies on energy transport and food sourcing. But it's not all doom and gloom. Dr Bruce suggests things we can do which would make life better for ourselves, for millions across the world … and for the snow bunting.
Contacts: Dr Donald Bruce, SRT Project, Tel. 0131-240 2250, Fax 0131-240 2239, srtp@srtp.org.uk http://www.srtp.org.uk
Church of Scotland Press Office tel. 0131- 240 2243
Pauline Mullen, Edinburgh Science Festival, 0131-558 7666 ext206, pauline@scifest.demon.co.uk
Dr Noranne Ellis, SNH, Tel: 0131 446 2413 Fax: 0131-446 2406, Noranne.Ellis@snh.gov.uk
