Climate change is real and it is happening now at an unprecedented rate. The impacts on already vulnerable landscapes and ecosystems are of critical conservation concern at a global, national and local scale.

This year the bluebells arrived earlier at the Blencathra Centre? Is this a random event? Is there a northward species shift? The annual Springwatch survey, run by the Woodland Trust in partnership with the BBC asked members of the public to record the first sightings of frog spawn, seven spot ladybird, red tailed bumblebee, peacock butterfly, flowering hawthorn and the swift.

The sightings first seen in the south, then spreading northwards point to the earlier arrival of the season. The Cumbria Wildlife Trust have discovered Short winged cone headed crickets at Humphrey Head, normally found much further south. At the Field Studies Council Blencathra Centre we would be interested to hear from ‘Beneath Blencathra’ readers regarding their observations of changes to flora and fauna so that we can share them with our visiting students.

2006 was the hottest year on record and the Hadley Centre predicts a 60% chance that 2007 will be the warmest year on record globally.

Tim Foster - Head of Blencathra Centre