I'm with you on that one Nix.. Birds are an incredibly important keystone species that keep insect numbers to a tolerable level. We always feed them (despite the fact that the little bastards seem to love crapping on my car) & they haven't even started nesting yet which gives more cause for concern.
I remember reading a few years ago, that the continued melting of the Arctic & Greenland Ice sheets would pump so much fresh water into the North Atlantic, that the Gulf Stream would weaken & eventually switch off, leading to much colder Winters for North Western Europe:
http://www.weatheronline.co.uk/reports/wxfacts/North-Atlantic-Drift-Gulf-Stream.htm Personally, I don't belive in (Man Made) Global Warming. The Planet just goes through a natural cycle as it wobbles, waxes & wanes about it's orbit. I do, however, think that we are seeing the beginning of a slide toward the next Ice Age.
We'll all be long dead (yipeeee) before it happens, but it's something your Childrens children will have to deal with.. (Unless North Korea starts a Nuclear War in the next few weeks)