A decline in Hampshire's population of brent geese may be caused by climate change, the RSPB has warned.
The bird conservation charity said the wintering flock in Langstone Harbour nature reserve, near Portsmouth, was producing too few chicks.
It said last year's chicks made up only only 1% of the flock but the figure should be 15% for it to stay healthy.
The UK population of dark-bellied brent geese breed in Siberia, before wintering in the south coast harbours.
Chris Cockburn, RSPB Langstone Harbour warden, said: "It's been yet another poor breeding year for brent geese. When I was out the other day, I counted only seven youngsters in 800 birds.
"To keep population levels stable, around 15% of a wintering flock should be young. This year, it's less than 1%.
"What we are dealing with is an ageing population, and that's bad news."
The brent geese spend the winter in the tidal Langstone Harbour
He said the lack of young is thought to be caused by climate change and an increased number of young chicks and eggs being taken by Arctic foxes.
Mr Cockburn added: "These brent geese breed in one of the coldest places on earth.
"It's here, at the extreme end of the temperature spectrum, that any changes to climate will be first felt.
"A rise of less than one degree there will have a noticeable impact on the ecology of the area. These tremors can then be felt all the way here in Portsmouth.
"The flock is now beginning to return to Siberia, let's hope they bring more young back next year."
South east Hampshire, which includes the Chichester and Langstone Harbours Special Protection Area (SPA), is home to more than 10% of the world's brent goose population and up to 30% of that in the UK, the RSPB said.
Their habit of wintering in a relatively small number of UK sites has led brent geese to become amber listed as a "species of conservation concern".
Geese decline 'caused by climate'
Sea Levels 'Impossible' To Defend Against
As fears grow of a metre sea level rise by the end of the century, the Environment Agency has told Sky News Online it is impossible to defend all of Britain's coastline.
Many places along the UK's East Coast will become particularly vulnerable to flooding.
The Environment Agency (EA) is already planning new defences. It has chosen to spend £50m on protection in Ipswich, including a new barrier, like that already across the Thames.
Just along the coast, Jaywick near Clapton has also been given sea defences to protect the 2,600 homes that lie almost at sea level.
But with 1.7 million properties in flood risk areas in the UK, many other places will not be as lucky.
EA chairman Lord Smith told Sky News Online: "We're not going to be able to protect every single inch of coastline. We've got something like 2 thousand miles of sea defences already that we have to maintain, that we have to keep in order.
"There are some places where even if we had a completely bottomless purse, er, we wouldn't be able to defend... Happisborough I'm afraid is one of those.''
The village of Happisburgh in Norfolk is fast losing its battle with the sea.
For years, residents have watched as cliffs supporting their houses have crumbled.
Diana Wrightson feels the government has abandoned them: ''It's disappeared very quickly," she said.
"One year we lost eight metres from the front. This year we've lost one, so you cannot tell how fast it's going to happen. It depends on the weather and the tides."
A metre rise would mean many areas of the UK would be inundated, particularly along the East Coast, if new defences are not built.
Hull, East Anglia, much of the Thames Estuary and Portsmouth are among the main areas at risk.
For most of the UK, storm surges, fuelled by extreme weather, will cause the most damage.
Professor Tim Lenton from the University of East Anglia told Sky News Online the East Anglian coast will be worst hit.
He said: "We know when that mixture goes wrong and we get the high tide and the weather and the wind behind it - on the back of a risen global sea level - then we have the concern for big flooding events."
A recent report predicted the cost of damage from sea levels rising could increase from £1.5bn a year to £21bn a year by the 2080's.
So while protecting most places may be possible, the question is whether the huge Government investment needed for the defences will be forthcoming.
District ready for Earth Hour
BASSETLAW Council staff will be among those switching off to support 'Earth Hour'.
A WWF initiative, Earth Hour will see businesses and iconic buildings around the world switch off their lights for an hour at 8.30pm on Saturday (March 28).
And many businesses in the UK, including The Environment Agency, HSBC, IKEA and Tesco will show their support by turning off lights and unplugging PCs, monitors and peripherals for one hour between 1pm and 2pm tomorrow (Friday).
David Hunter, Chief Executive of Bassetlaw District Council said: "The council has 'Clean and Green' as one of its main priorities and we are keen to support any plans to combat climate change.
"Although it is impractical, for public service reasons, for the council to turn off all electrical devices at 1pm on Friday, we will be asking staff to turn off their lights if it is safe and appropriate to do so and to turn off any peripheral machinery.
"Hopefully we will greatly reduce our energy consumption during that afternoon and bring more attention to this issue locally.
"We are also running an internal campaign to ensure staff know how they can participate in Earth Hour on Saturday evening.
"We will be encouraging employees to power down their homes to support action against climate change."
WWF want a billion people around the world to join in the campaign for the world's leaders to take action to tackle climate change.
Earth Hour can be used to reflect upon our reliance on electricity at work and at home and to discuss with colleagues how electricity use could be reduced.
US Congress told global warming is a myth
The United States Congress has been told to ignore President Barack Obama's carbon emission plan.
The Energy and Environment Subcommittee has heard from a British aristocrat, Lord Christopher Walter Monckton, that climate change does not exist.
Monckton, who has long believed climate change is myth, is a member of a movement that has argued there is no statistically significant global warming.
Saying green jobs are purely a euphemism for mass unemployment, he told Congress members that adaptation to climate change is unnecessary.
Another speaker, Pastor Calvin Beisner, who speaks for a group which consists of clergy and religious leaders, questioned proposed efforts to combat climate change on a biblical basis.
He said he was convinced that policies meant to reduce alleged carbon dioxide-induced global warming would be destructive.
Pastor Beisner told members that the biblical world view sees Earth and its ecosystems as the effect of God's creation: “robust, resilient, and self-regulating.”
The House is discussing ways to address Mr Obama's cap-and-trade proposal in his US$3.6 trillion budget plan, which was presented to Congress in February.
Mr Obama's proposal would limit emissions of greenhouse gases for manufacturers, and permit companies buy pollution credits from other firms.
Rising temperatures having severe impact on birds
Warmer summer temperatures are having a severe impact on upland birds, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) Scotland has claimed.
The rising temperatures are dramatically reducing populations of daddy long legs, which in turn impact on the bird populations which rely on them for food.
The RSPB claims the research shows for the first time how climate change is affecting upland species, such as the golden plover. The charity claims there are fears the bird may be pushed towards extinction by the end of the century.
A statement from the conservationists states: "If these trends continue, as predicted by current climate models, we would expect many plover populations, particularly in the south of their range where temperatures will be highest, to be increasingly likely to decline, or even face extinction."
The new research shows the effects of increasing late summer temperatures, which kill cranefly larvae in peatland soils as the surface dries out, resulting in a drop of up to 95 per cent in numbers of adult craneflies emerging the following spring.
With these craneflies providing a crucial food source for a wide range of upland birds like golden plover, the result is the starvation and death of many chicks, the RSPB claims.
Lead author Dr James Pearce Higgins from the RSPB Scotland said: "Many studies predict dire effects of climate change upon wildlife but this study provides a rare example of where such predictions are based on a detailed understanding of a species' requirements, linking the effects of climate on food resources to changes in breeding success and population size.
"This is the most worrying development that I have found in my scientific career to date. However, by understanding these processes, we now have the chance to respond.
"The fight against climate change will increasingly mean strengthening habitats to protect vulnerable species, as well as trying to reduce emissions."
