Global warming: The death of species

If the world needed a fresh wake-up call about the dangers of global warming, then it got it yesterday with the release of a report by distinguished international scientists predicting that climate change will threaten extinction for a quarter of all land animals and plants by 2050. This is based on a mid-range forecast of possible outcomes. At the high end as many as 58% of species could become extinct, and even at the lower end of the range, it would be disastrously high at 9%. The report - published in the journal Nature - claims to have been prepared by the largest collaboration of scientists ever to apply themselves to the problem. They studied six biodiversity-rich regions around the world, covering 20% of the planet's land area. One example of the findings is that all but three of 24 species of endemic butterflies in Australia may no longer be able to survive by 2050. This is not just a problem of individual species, because species depend on each other, so the disappearance of 25% could have multiplying effects that are difficult to quantify.

What can be done? The problem has been caused by the build-up of greenhouse gases by human activities. One of the scientists involved, Professor Chris Thomas of the University of Leeds, says that "an immediate and progressive" switch to technologies that produce little or no greenhouse gases, combined with active removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, could save over a million species from extinction.

Globalwarmingissues.com