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News Archives
Week of October 10, 2004
Amphibians vanishing faster than ever
 For many years, I've been reading about deformed and vanishing amphibians. Frogs, toads, and salamanders are delicately attuned to environmental conditions, and for that reason our increasingly polluted environment has hit these species particularly hard.
But new evidence shows that amphibians are vanishing much quicker than expected. A recent global survey, published in Science, reports that one-third of amphibian species world wide are in danger of extinction. Habitat loss, climate change, pollution, and disease all contribute to the imminent extinction of our frogs and toads.
In North America, the North American Amphibian Monitoring Program is a cooperative effort watching amphibian populations around the continent. But over 1,800 species are threatened worldwide, and almost 200 species are already extinct.
"It's tragic. Many of them are beautiful species, or they had extraordinary lifestyles that are just lost to us," said Simon N. Stuart, a report author. "Wiping out a fantastically wonderful set of species impoverishes our own lives."
Stuart is senior director of biodiversity assessment at the International Union for Conservation of Nature. It keeps what is known as the Red List, a compilation of the world's imperiled plants and animals.
The assessment in today's Science, however, is the first detailed look at amphibians. Disease and climate change may eventually affect not just these sensitive animals but also hardier species like humans.
"What happens to amphibians now could well be a prophecy of what happens to other species, maybe even ourselves,'' Stuart said. "They serve as an early warning system.'' Photo is a spotted salamander.
Comments? Click here.
Posted by Jennifer on Friday, October 15 2004, 6:25 PM
Honey, I'm home...
We've arrived home safe and sound, and this is the last day of vacation. More or less normal blogging should resume shortly.
Posted by Jennifer on Friday, October 15 2004, 12:33 PM
Carbon dioxide increases sharply, again
For more than 50 years, scientists have monitored levels of carbon dioxide at the Mauna Loa observatory. Sometimes they see increases of CO2 in the atmosphere, but those increases have always been linked to some specific event. But for the past two years, carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have risen in a way that is unexplained. Scientists are concerned that this may mean carbon is being released in quantities the earth cannot adjust to, which could lead to even faster levels of global warming.
Posted by Jennifer on Monday, October 11 2004, 5:27 PM
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