#Bats dying ‘on a #Biblical scale’ due to record-breaking #heatwave in #Australia

As parts of Australia swelter, trees in many towns and cities are rustling – not just with the sound of dry leaves, but also with bats fanning themselves with their wings to keep cool.

Some areas have recorded temperatures above 48C, and bat deaths have been reported on a “biblical scale”.

The record-breaking heatwave has seen temperatures remain at 39C even at midnight.

For some, the relentless heat has been too much. Temperatures above 42C can kill flying foxes, and thousands have dropped dead from the trees in Adelaide, South Australia.

Back in November, amid another heatwave, more than 23,000 spectacled flying foxes died in just two days in the northern city of Cairns. Residents were forced to move out of their homes due to the smell of rotting carcases, the ABC reported.

The figure represents a third of Australia’s spectacled flying foxes.

“This sort of event has not happened in Australia this far north since human settlement,” said Dr Justin Welbergen.

“It’s clear from climate change projections that this is set to escalate in the future,” he told the BBC, adding the deaths were “the canary in the coal mine for climate change”.

Growing numbers of bats are roosting in urban areas, according to the Australian government – a trend that has made the deaths conspicuous.

Courtesy of independent.co.uk

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