Science & Technology at Scientific American.com: Global Warming Shows Up in Fly Genes

Science & Technology at Scientific American.com: Global Warming Shows Up in Fly Genes:

"Climate warming over the last quarter century is writ large in tiny fruit flies, according to a genetic analysis. In a species of fruit fly, the frequencies of so-called inversions, in which a piece of chromosome is flipped around, were observed decades ago to correspond to the latitude at which the flies were found. In nearly all the sites where the flies have recently been sampled--a span of three continents--the frequency of specific inversions has increased hand in hand with climbing temperatures. 'It's a very clear signal that climate warming is going to have a big impact on our environment,' says Raymond Huey of the University of Washington, co-author of a report in the September 1 Science that documents the change."