Global Warming Accelerates Evolution in European Flies
ECOLOGY
9/27/2024
Researchers from the Autonomous University of Barcelona have discovered that rising temperatures and heat waves over the past two decades, driven by global warming, have accelerated genetic evolution in Drosophila subobscura flies, particularly those commonly found in European forests. The researchers also showed that this evolution occurred through an increase in the frequency of pre-existing genetic variations, rather than new inversions, especially those related to supporting higher temperature resistance. In the study published in Nature Climate Change in September 2024, the researchers predict that if global temperature increases continue at an uncontrolled pace, by the 2050s, the genetic variations in fly populations in Central Europe will disappear and become more similar to those in Southern Europe. These findings demonstrate that global warming is affecting species even at the genetic level, serving as a warning about the serious threats posed by global warming in the future.
