Posted on 03/31/2017 8:27:39 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
Australian koalas are drinking much more water than they used to—and it’s likely because of hot, dry weather aggravated by climate change.
Koalas, which normally spend most of their time in the safety of eucalyptus trees, have begun to climb down and drink from artificial water stations provided by University of Sydney researchers. The koalas of Gunnedah, a town in southeastern Australia often referred to as the “Koala Capital of the World,” were drinking from the stations for more than 10 minutes on average, according to a press release from the university.
Koalas are leaving their trees even when they would normally be asleep, according to university researchers. The animals can sleep up to 18 hours a day in trees, and their primary diet consists of eucalyptus leaves, which they often eat at night. They can eat up to two and a half pounds of leaves per day.
Australia's most recent summer (December 2016 to February 2017) brought record-breaking heat across much of New South Wales, the province that contains Gunnedah. Australian and Dutch climate scientists recently showed that climate change makes these kinds of extreme temperatures at least 10 times likelier than they otherwise would be.
But with the help of artificial water stations, Mella thinks that conservationists could give koalas a better chance to thrive.
“We hope to use our findings to create a practical plan to manage Australia's rural lands for this iconic species,” she said.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.nationalgeographic.com ...
Redistribute hard-earned wealth from developed modern nations to third-world Marxist turd holes!
Animals drink more water when the temperature rises?
Whoa!!
I thought the koala eats bush and leaves
Are they coming down because they’re thirsty, or because there’s a readily-available source of water?
If they put Doritos on the ground, they’d be coming down for those too. Doritos are effing delicious
Stop asking logical question! You're ruining the narrative. ;-)
Most parts of Australia have ALWAYS been hot and dry. The interior is just a king-sized version of Arizona.
Eucalyptus trees evolved BECAUSE of the eons of hot and dry climate that Australia has been exposed to. Worst thing that could happen to such an environment would be to get TOO MUCH moisture.
“...weather aggravated by climate change.”
When the only tool in your tool box, every problem is a nail.
When I see the phrase “climate change” I automatically assume they are lying.
Saves time from reading fake news.
I thought they only ate eucalyptus leaves.
These people are delusional.
Researchers make water easily available to animals in a hot dry area.
Animals discover the water and take advantage of it.
Climate change is proved as a scientific fact.
You just cannot make this stuff up.
It can’t be because it’s summertime down under.
The climate does change.
It’s not our fault.
The weather is not that into us.
HEY!! There will be NO common-sense answers provided here. We're talking about GLOBAL WARMING Cooling Man MadeCLIMATE CHANGE, here. The fate of the entire planet rests on the decisions made by these koalas!
Have pictures of cute little kids being brainwashed and your organization will get more denotations.
So. I’m guessing it getting harder to beg off public dollars for your personal treks out in to nature expounding on how all you civilized people are effing up your world because they bought a burger in a foam container while you are pissing away gas, electricity, harassing koalas, and bagging your feces to dump in some dumpster on the way back?
The competition for pandering liberal subversive dollars now must be brutal.
My recollection is that they are the Panda diet. I could be wrong, though.....
It does not care about your carbon credits.
LOL!
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