Cat Breeding & Global Warming

I'm sorry, but I do not buy this:

Droves of cats and kittens are swarming into animal shelters nationwide, and global warming is to blame, according to one pet adoption group.

Several shelters operated by a national adoption organization called Pets Across America reported a 30 percent increase in intakes of cats and kittens from 2005 to 2006, and other shelters across the nation have reported similar spikes of stray, owned and feral cats.

The cause of this feline flood is an extended cat breeding season thanks to the world’s warming temperatures, according to the group, which is one of the country’s oldest and largest animal welfare organizations.

“Cats are typically warm-weather, spring-time breeders,” said the group’s president, Kathy Warnick. “However, states that typically experience primarily longer and colder winters are now seeing shorter, warmer winters, leading to year-round breeding.”

Winters have not shortened that much. Temperatures have increased roughly 1°C/century overall (perhaps a bit less), maybe +0.2°C in the last decade. Average temperatures increase about 0.3°C/day in places like New Hampshire, meaning winter has only been extended by about a day or two. That's supposed to account for a 30% increase in cat breeding? No way.

No doubt cat populations are increasing. And no doubt the globe is warming. That doesn't mean they're that strongly connected. There are plenty of other hypotheses to explain this problem.