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-- Species disappearing at an alarming rate, report says

Species disappearing at an alarming rate, report says

F-ck Al Gore (no offense). Here's the REAL problem that needs to be addressed - the destruction of environment, rainforests, biosphere ... at unprecedented rates since the dinosaur extiction. And it has NOTHING to do with global warming / climate change, but rather humankind's necessity to continue expanding on this planet. Greenhouse gases dont affect the planet the way humans did over the last several thousand years. I read too many articles about polar bears drowning from climate change and not enough of this huge species extinction rates that are not caused by climate change. This is the crisis ... polar bears are nowhere near the levels of extinction that thousands of other species are facing around the world right now. 20,000 polar bears is still a lot of bears.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6502368/from/ET/

Watchdog releases annual 'Red List,' warns extent is underestimated

The world's biodiversity is declining at an unprecedented rate, the recognized global watchdog on endangered species said Wednesday in announcing its annual list of most vulnerable wildlife.

At least 15 species have gone extinct in the past 20 years and another 12 survive only in captivity, the World Conservation Union said in a report that accompanies its annual "Red List."

Current extinction rates are at least 100 to 1,000 times higher than natural rates found in the fossil record, the report stated. The data were released as 3,500 delegates gathered in Bangkok, Thailand, for a World Conservation Union conference focused on halting what's deemed an extinction crisis.

The report concluded that humans are the main reason for most species' declines. "Habitat destruction and degradation are the leading threats," the union said in a statement, "but other significant pressures include over-exploitation (for food, pets, and medicine), introduced species, pollution, and disease. Climate change is increasingly recognized as a serious threat."

3,330 more threatened species
The union, which is a coalition of leading conservation groups, called the report "the most comprehensive evaluation ever undertaken of the status of the world's biodiversity." Among the findings:

15,589 species (7,266 animal species and 8,323 plant and lichen species) are now considered at risk of extinction � an increase of 3,330 species since the 2003 Red List. The increase is largely due to the fact that scientists have finally been able to assess all of the world's amphibians.
One in three amphibians and almost half of turtles and tortoises are known to be threatened with extinction, along with one in four mammals, one in five sharks and rays, and one in eight birds.
The numbers of threatened species are increasing across almost all major taxonomic groups.

Craig Hilton-Taylor, who managed the Red List compilation, noted that "although 15,589 species are known to be threatened with extinction, this greatly underestimates the true number, as only a fraction of known species have been assessed.

"There is still much to be discovered about key species-rich habitats," he said in a statement, "such as tropical forests, marine and freshwater systems, or particular groups, such as invertebrates, plants and fungi, which make up the majority of biodiversity."

Species that fared worse than in 2003 are the now-extinct St Helena olive, the Hawaiian crow, which has become extinct in the wild, and the Balearic shearwater and giant Hispaniolan galliwasp lizard, which are now both critically endangered.

Where threats are concentrated
The report found that threatened species are often concentrated in areas that are poor and densely populated, such as much of Asia and Africa.

The union urged better off nations and international groups to step forward to help in those areas.

"The good news is that we still have time to save the majority of (the species), if the conservation community, governments, other organizations, and concerned individuals commit a sufficient amount of resources immediately," said Russ Mittermeier, the head of Conservation International and chairman of the World Conservation Union's primate group.

The entire Red List database is online at www.iucnredlist.org.

� 2008 MSNBC Interactive

Re: Species disappearing at an alarming rate, report says

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Originally posted by Magnetonium F-ck Al Gore (no offense). Here's the REAL problem that needs to be addressed - the destruction of environment, rainforests, biosphere ... at unprecedented rates since the dinosaur extiction. And it has NOTHING to do with global warming / climate change, but rather humankind's necessity to continue expanding on this planet. Greenhouse gases dont affect the planet the way humans did over the last several thousand years. I read too many articles about polar bears drowning from climate change and not enough of this huge species extinction rates that are not caused by climate change. This is the crisis ... polar bears are nowhere near the levels of extinction that thousands of other species are facing around the world right now. 20,000 polar bears is still a lot of bears.

Actually it has a lot to do with global warming. Every time you cut down a tree, you release its carbon, because every living thing is made of carbon. Multiply that release of carbon by millions of times and cutting down the rain forest doesn't sound too good does it?

Re: Re: Species disappearing at an alarming rate, report says

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Originally posted by Krypton Actually it has a lot to do with global warming. Every time you cut down a tree, you release its carbon, because every living thing is made of carbon. Multiply that release of carbon by millions of times and cutting down the rain forest doesn't sound too good does it?

Cutting down trees kills species, not the greenhouse gases, silly read teh article

Re: Re: Re: Species disappearing at an alarming rate, report says

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Originally posted by Magnetonium Cutting down trees kills species, not the greenhouse gases, silly read teh article

I'm saying it does both..

Re: Re: Re: Re: Species disappearing at an alarming rate, report says

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Originally posted by Krypton I'm saying it does both..

I mean like we are destroying rainforests and habitats of animals and other life, and sooner or later this threatens species. Greenhouse gases are debatable, since there are a lot of holes in that comparison, especially when it comes to superimposing the massive CO2 level increases to temperature increases ... and besides, did humans melt the ice during the Medieval warming area when people even inhabited Greenland or at the end of the last Ice Age ...

Give it couple decades, huma-driven global warming will turn out to be a one big lie. But thats just my opinion, lets not dwell on it. The main thing that cannot be reversed is species extinction.

If anything, climate change forces life to adapt - but species have the space and room to do so. When humans come into the picture and deestroy their habitat, there's nowhere to go. Species decline from global warming is a joke to the massive species decline and extinction due to human activity that's not greenhouse gas driven.

Look at how much of the Amazon has been cut down...



You see by looking at the dark green which is the amazon and the light green/brown which is surrounding the rain forest.

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Originally posted by Krypton Look at how much of the Amazon has been cut down... You see by looking at the dark green which is the amazon and the light green/brown which is surrounding the rain forest.

Then we agree on one thing - global warming is not what's causing most of the rainforest destruction. Which is my point, point of the article. Current major species extinction is driven by humans, not by global warming / climate change.

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Originally posted by Magnetonium Then we agree on one thing - global warming is not what's causing most of the rainforest destruction. Which is my point, point of the article. Current major species extinction is driven by humans, not by global warming / climate change.

Yes. But rainforest destruction contributes to excessive levels of atmospheric carbon, because every tree that is cut down absorbs carbon out of the atmosphere. The less trees, the less carbon absorbed. Combine that with out releases of carbon and you've got a runaway greenhouse effect.

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Originally posted by Krypton Yes. But rainforest destruction contributes to excessive levels of atmospheric carbon, because every tree that is cut down absorbs carbon out of the atmosphere. The less trees, the less carbon absorbed. Combine that with out releases of carbon and you've got a runaway greenhouse effect.

Well, of course, thats self-explanatory, but the species extinction is caused from human destruction of natural habitat (ex. rainforests), not from global warming. Comparing and using CO2 levels for statistics is a very inaccurate method. Why? Ask yourself this question - what happened first at the end of the last Ice Age: CO2 released into the atmosphere or did the ice melt from solar cycle/fluctuations?

And now put that logic into this CO2 levels perspective. CO2 levels is not an accurate method to measure "global warming". If a volcano erupts tomorrow and cuts off most of Amazon basin and lotsa CO2 gets released into the atmosphere, it wont be because of global warming.

And besides, methane is like 40 times more powerful greenhouse gas than CO2. And the most abundant and most powerful greenhouse gas of them all - water vapour. Dont forget that.

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Originally posted by ******** Some species are threatened by global warming such as humans. see this article http://news.mongabay.com/2006/1119-unep.html

I wonder how the species adapted throughout many generations of climate change in the past ...

Besides, it still all comes down to human-caused environmental destruction.

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