This has been on my mind this past week(and is only lightly tangential)...but would we be able to observe adaptations being made by plants/animals/ecosystems on a timescale of years or decades...to the changing climate?
Humans will be playing mental gymnastics and politics for quite a while before any true changes to move the needle are made...but all other biological things can just make the adaptations...given enough cycles to recognize that something is different(the last 3 seasons were much wetter or colder or hotter, etc...).
I imagine these adaptations could be earlier/later migrations, reproduction habits, hibernation patterns, food gathering. Not necessarily changes in DNA.
It's already being observed. Bird migrations have been happening earlier/later, and ranges of birds have increased. I'm sure the same thing is happening for whales / ocean animals.
According to this one[1], they're adapting by leaving later, and flying faster/taking less breaks to make up for the lost time. The result being that less of them make it to the breeding grounds (6% decrease in survival rate).
Migration in terrestrial animals has been blocked. By us. Nobody expects reindeer being allowed to pass the Holidays in France. Birds can fly. European terrestrial big mammals used to have extensive migrations like those in Africa. Not possible anymore with all the cities, agriculture and highways.
Humans will be playing mental gymnastics and politics for quite a while before any true changes to move the needle are made...but all other biological things can just make the adaptations...given enough cycles to recognize that something is different(the last 3 seasons were much wetter or colder or hotter, etc...).
I imagine these adaptations could be earlier/later migrations, reproduction habits, hibernation patterns, food gathering. Not necessarily changes in DNA.