Global warming may bring mass species loss

[Judi Lynn]

Global warming may bring mass species loss

WASHINGTON, April 11, 2006

A study by U.S. and Canadian scientists confirms earlier dire predictions of species loss, concluding global warming could spark mass species extinctions.

The study by scientists from the University of Toronto, the University of New England, the U.S. Forest Service, the Worldwide Fund for Nature, and Conservation International expands on a 2004 paper that suggested a quarter of the world's species would be committed to extinction by 2050 as a result of global warming.

The new study confirms that conclusion.

"Climate change is rapidly becoming the most serious (threat) to the planet's biodiversity," said lead author Jay Malcolm, an assistant forestry professor at the University of Toronto. "This study provides even stronger scientific evidence that global warming will result in catastrophic species loss across the planet."

The research is one of the first attempts to assess the potential effects of climate change on terrestrial biodiversity on a global scale. Scientists looked specifically at the effect climate change would have on 25 of the 34 globally outstanding "biodiversity hotspots" -- areas containing a large number of species unique to those regions alone, yet facing enormous threats.
(snip/...)

http://www.politicalgateway.com/news/read.html?id=7136

[bling bling]

1. It's like watching a train wreck in slow motion.

My heart aches for our children.

[pinniped]

2. If someone builds an ark, they can be saved.

This one will have to be 1,000,000,000 cubits in length.

[Triana]

3. that - and direct govt/corprat raping of the environment

...like the Ecuadorian rainforest, for instance:

"The petroleum resources located beneath the Kallari communities may jeopardize the survival of Cacao Nacional in the Amazon and the rich cultural traditions of our Kichwa villages, as international companies and policies of the Ecuadorian government attempt to open two new oil blocks in the region where Kallari farms are located, without our permission. Help prevent petroleum production from contaminating soils and streams in the Ecuadorian Amazon by supporting Kallari through your purchases, becoming informed and writing letters to policy makers."

http://www.kallari.com/cocoa.html

There are varietes of cocoa, and hundreds of other plant and animal species that ONLY grow in this region. But oil companies and gov'ts who also stand to profit from their oil resources would destroy all of it. Their penchant for destruction and profit at all human and environmental costs knows NO bounds. They're destroying the planet to get at the oil, and destroying the air pumping it and its byproducts into the atmosphere.

http://www.kallari.com/oil.html

Despicable. I've tasted the chocolate they make from the cocoa beans that grow in this region. It's not yet sold in stores but they're working on it. Some varieties don't grow anywhere else. You've NEVER tasted chocolate like it. If the oil companies have their way, it won't exist anymore.

[IndianaGreen]

4. Homo sapiens is one of those species in danger of extinction

Wait until rising sea levels flood coastal cities, wipe out several island nations, and the climate change affects crops and water sources on a planetary scale. Millions will die!

[Lorien]

6. Not to mention massive forest failures and the spreading of ocean dead

zones. Just where do people think our oxygen comes from, anyway?

[Lorien]

5. Or, to put it in terms that the obsessively selfish can appreciate:

biodiversity is crucial to human wellbeing. Just consider what would happen if, say, the mexican freetail bat went extinct. The bats consume tons of destructive insects every night in the Southwestern states. In areas where local governments have fallen into pest control corporation's traps and paid for the removal of native bats on public structures, insect populations have exploded. Crop damage was severe, and the threat of the spread of various diseases to humans and livestock was raised considerably. Without ANY bats, just image what would happen? Mankind, despite our illusions, is powerless against Mother nature. We screw with her, and she'll make Katrina look like a walk in the park.

[bling bling]

7. I think bats also pollinate the flowers used in Rum.

That's why Bacardi Rum has bats on the label.

[The Backlash Cometh]

8. Global warming, overpopulation who really cares, I mean really?

We're going to have massive species loss and there's no point in wringing our hands because the reality is that no one is really ready to make the sacrifices necessary to stem the problem. Open up the borders and make this demise quicker, why don't we? Now go away and don't bother me as I sit in a comfy chair and watch my plasma 50" t.v.

[motocicleta]

9. I didn't read the damn article, so don't blame me if I misquote it

but as far as I understand, there isn't one goddamn thing we can do right now to improve climate change by 2050 anyway. What we do now will have some effect further down the road, but the feedback loop of greenhouse gases and climate change will continue for many decades even if we never emitted another molecule starting tomorrow.

What we can do is make the generations more than 2 distant from right now a little more likely to survive. This is not an argument to do little, in fact far from it. I bring this up because this article, like many I have seen, discusses how many changes could occur by 2050 or 2100. It is only recently that I have been exposed to the idea that the climate change will continue long after 2100, and that we have to stop the path we're on - or else. Demographers are still proposing 9 to 11 billion people on the planet by 2100, but with the climate changing, that is ridiculous. If we can't start working off of the precautionary principle, which has been sadly neglected (first do no harm) in the course of western civilization, we could very well be looking at the end of human civilization, or at least in any form we are familiar with. I, as a father with a 3 year old daughter, would hope that we can do better. I understand that humans have done a variety of stupid things because we didn't know any better, such as burning fossil fuels, but now that we have a good idea of how bad this thing can be, we must find a way to pull our heads out.

We may have to visit the idea of voluntary restrictions on burning fossil fuels in a radical way. Like lala recommended if the elections go wrong in the fall, we may have to begin thinking about just sitting down and striking if action is not taken to remedy the situation. I can not drive, and not fly, and generally hunker down, but such a statement will mean little if many of my compatriots do not join me. But if many of us do take our dollars out of the transportation industry, I guarantee the greedy little punks will stand up, take notice, and find ways to get us there with less gas.

Just a thought.