Desert species that depend on rainfall events to initiate breeding, such as resident birds, and
migratory birds whose
routes cross deserts, will be severely affected (Dukes and Mooney, 1999; Hardy, 2003; Box 4.5).
Newly available shipping lanes through the Northwest Passage would greatly shorten the trip between Europe and East Asia, but would likely
cross the
migratory route of any right whales that occupy the region.It's vital that we know about right whales in this area in order to effectively avoid ship strikes on what could be a quite fragile population.