According to a recent study, the tongues of American bees have begun to shrink in what is being referred to as one of the best examples of the effect of climate change. According to entomologist Sydney Cameron, the reason for this evolution is global warming - or, more specifically, how the earth's heating climate is causing biodiversity to shrink. American bees, the majority of which before sported long tongues that were crucial in the pollination of long-tubed flowers, now have tongues that are much smaller than before due to the reduced number of all flowers. These bees mostly reside on mountain slopes, where the flower density has dropped 70% since 1970. Since the amount of biodiversity in short-tubed flowers far outnumbered the amount among long-tubed, long-tongued bees began to die out while short-tongued bees continued to enjoy the benefits of such biodiversity. In result, bees have evolved to have shorter tongues in order to benefit from these changes in flower diversity.
This study shows how climate change has begun to affect living species, especially since this adaptation of bees took place over a relatively short span of forty years. It is only one example of diminishing biodiversity and necessary adaptation caused by global warming.
http://news.sciencemag.org/plants-animals/2015/09/warming-world-has-shrunk-bee-tongues?rss=1
This study shows how climate change has begun to affect living species, especially since this adaptation of bees took place over a relatively short span of forty years. It is only one example of diminishing biodiversity and necessary adaptation caused by global warming.
http://news.sciencemag.org/plants-animals/2015/09/warming-world-has-shrunk-bee-tongues?rss=1