Detroit could become haven for monarch butterflies as climate changes, study finds

Climate change poses a major threat to monarch butterflies, the distinct black-and-orange insects that travel in packs through the Midwest each summer, but new research modeling their future decline could help scientists protect them.

Seasonal weather conditions in two regions — springtime in Texas and summer in the Midwestern U.S. and Ontario — both breeding areas, determine whether eastern monarch butterflies will thrive in a given year, said Elise Zipkin, an associate professor of ecology at Michigan State University who co-authored a recent study about climate change and monarch populations.

As the climate changes, weather patterns will get less hospitable for the butterflies as they make…