Quarter of Species Gone by 2050
Offline Using several models that project habitat changes, migration capabilities of various species, and related extinctions in 25 "hotspots," scientists predict that a quarter of the world's plant and vertebrate animal species would face extinction by 2050
A report detailing the projections was released today.
Biodiversity hotspots are some of the richest and most threatened biological pools on Earth. They contain 44 percent of plant and 35 percent of the Earth's vertebrate species on only 1.4 percent of the Earth's land. Each hotspot contains its own set of unique species.
"Climate change is rapidly becoming the most serious threats to the planet's biodiversity," said 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."
In the most dramatic of the scenarios, for which carbon dioxide levels grow to double that of today's levels, the models forecasted a potential loss of 56,000 plant species and 3,700 vertebrate species in the hotspots.
Such a climate scenario could become a reality in only 50 years, the study estimates.
"These species lose their last options if we allow climate change to continue unchecked," said Lara Hansen, chief climate scientist at the global conservation group World Wildlife Fund. "Keeping the natural wealth of this planet means we must avoid dangerous climate change?and that means we have got to reduce carbon dioxide emissions."
The study found that certain hotspots were especially sensitive to climate change with extinctions sometimes exceeding 2,000 plant species per hotspot. These include the Caribbean, the Tropical Andes, Cape Floristic region of South Africa, Southwest Australia, the Atlantic forests of Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina.
The results are detailed in the journal Conservation Biology.
We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking,
if mankind is to survive.
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Through out history, there have been mass extinctions because of "cataclysmic disasters"... sad to think that our legacy in these past few generations may be that we were a cataclysmic disaster...
www.andyhanson.net
It is sad, indeed.
Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is organized life. - Immanuel Kant
What the hell do you all think evolution is all about? SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST. It's called survival of the fittest because those who are the fittest survive. Right now humans are the fittest to survive because we're smarter than all the other species. Go figure. Quit whining about it, if evolution is true then we'll see more species evolve.
Atheism is a non-prophet organization.
This is a very naive and scary view of the world. We are upsetting the natural ecological systems of this planet and it will effect us. We are at the top of the food chain and guess what, historically that means we are the most vulnerable of all species. We are intelligent and that will buy us time, but it is in no way a guarantee that our techonology will evolve fast enough to allow us to adapt to large changes in the planets atmosphere, landmass and temperature - which are all being effected by global warming. We are HUGELY dependant on crops and livestock.
Put simply, it is survival of the fittest and humans aren't nearly as fit as you might think. The only thing more dangerous then the ecological effects of global warming for the survival of our species is the threat of a large meteorite or comet striking the Earth.
Don't be fooled, our environment isn't magical, it's a machine and no god will save us (as you know).
"All it would take to kill God is one meteorite a half mile across - think about why." - Vorax
Visit my blog on Atheism: Cerebral Thinking for some more food for intelligent thought.
Nice attitude
You're right, we are the fittest so lets get rid of all species that are not useful to us!
www.andyhanson.net
Wrong, the bio diversity will suffer tremendously, because the temperature rises far to quickly to allow natural selection to kick in.
Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is organized life. - Immanuel Kant
I think I am in agreement but would put a more attractive package on the sentiment. Humans have historically been very good at causing other species to disappear. If you look in North America, many species (giant sloths, mammoths, camels, horses) were wiped out by paleolithic man. The fact that they were unaware of their effect indicates how "natural" the process is.
If I am not mistaken, cows, pigs, and chickens are not on the list. I eat those; so, I rest a little easier knowing that. It may be a pity that something as lovely as a lion or as fascinating as a rhino disappears, but my life is hardly effected. I have never heard anyone say, "If only we had a passenger pigeon to send this letter," or, "If only the Dodo population flourished so we could use them for scientific research."
This is not a warm and fuzzy response, but we can only have so many apoplexies at any given time. I am more concerned that 600,000 have died in Iraq and that the Constitution is no longer the law of the land than I am about weevils in the Congo. It is purely a matter of priority.
"Tis better to rule in Hell than to serve in Heaven." -Lucifer
Or better yet, let's get rid of the species that could be useful to us but never have the chance to find out why. Yeah!
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We have managed to exist without them thus far. I would suggest having some sampling of their genetic code. If we find them useful, we can proceed from there. The species are going to disappear. It is merely a matter of whether we will gnash our teeth about it.
"Tis better to rule in Hell than to serve in Heaven." -Lucifer