Ecologists say that eventually climate change will shrink all species. They don't say so, but, well, wouldn't that include our own species?
It turns out the degradation of environments around the world due to climate change is limiting food availability, and as the result, smaller animals are doing better now than larger ones that need more resources. Warmer temperatures limits species size.
Bergmann's rule says that species size decreases as warmth increases. That's because smaller species can radiate heat better to adapt to warm temperatures. The tropics host smaller species. Larger animals have a lower surface-area-to-volume ratio, allowing them to retain more heat and fare better in a cold climate, smaller ones in warm climates.
As a result, "As the world gets warmer, species will shrink," says Wendy Foden, the World Conservation Union biologist studying the effects of climate change on species.
Another population biologist Andy Purvis says that dying early will also reduce size. He says all species will gradually evolve into smaller versions because as a result of climate change, they'll be coping with sudden changes in their environment and hence dying prematurely, leading to smaller offspring over time.
So this will make sustainability more attainable for our species, won't it?
Imagine if we had been only 1 foot tall from the get-go.
We'd now have far less impact on the planet's resources. We would have set sail for America - where we now tear through five planets-worth of resources- in a boat about the size of one large log.
But of course, this adjustment is going to be in the very, very, very long run.
If only Gaia had had the foresight to make this adjustment to the size of the intelligent ape a few million years earlier, we might not need five whole planets now to live the unsustainable way that we live now.
Art by Slinkachu
Pure silliness inspires me to say, "go lemmings, go!" They're small and lean, along with their urban legend reputation for self annihilation.
This posting is a sweet thought experiment. And it may be true that smaller will be better as we move forward. Yet, looking at some of our current desert environments I question the hot world / small body phenotype correlation. How does this explain camels, elephants, rhinos and hippos, or even apes in the tropical rainforest?
And, of course, in terms of resource usage, homo sapiens sapiens (but are we really the wise of the wise?) are the largest of all on earth!
So, instead of 'keeping up with the Joneses' we've now got China and India (primarily) trying to keep up with the Yanks. Somehow we have to create a new 'small and local is beautiful' aesthetic that others will yearn to imitate.
Then, another silly spinoff thought goes to Lily Tomlin and the Incredible Shrinking Woman. Somewhere amidst that soup of chemicals is the key to shrinking humanity's footprint!
Sorry to be silly....but sometimes you just have to take the long view or you lose your perspective! If you just fear for your own grandkids you might get bummed out. So just think how perfectly toasty things will be for the next species of us. Then its not so bad.
The situation is unbelievable. Who would ever think that a species smart enough to get to the moon would turn out to be dumber than lemmings.
I work for a renewable energy start-up in Northern California and write freelance for HomeDesignFind and Greenoptions sites Gas 2.0 and Cleantechnica