Insects Cause Climate Change?
Can insects cause global climate change? That’s what one researcher from Wayne State University is trying to find out. It makes sense when you think about it. Are the insects out there burning fossil fuels? No. What scientists are trying to understand is the intricate connection between large scale insect outbreaks and global climate change. One outbreak in particular of mountain pine beetles in Yellowstone National Park. Why? They believe this outbreak is altering carbon cycling in forests and they want to find out what effect this alteration may have on global climate change.
Dan Kashian, Ph.D., assistant professor of biological sciences in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences will be granted a $306,296 grant from the National Institute of Climate Change Research in the Department of Energy to conduct the study. Kashian will try to determine if climate changes that have already occurred contribute to the current outbreaks, and how the outbreaks may effect future climate change.
P.S. (Don’t ever let your Dad tell you a degree in Liberal Arts doesn’t pay). (BB)
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