Vanishing of Frogs, Toads Tied to Global Warming, Study Says
Traci Watson
USA Today
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A team of biologists and climate scientists says in a new study that it has linked the extinction of a widespread group of animals to global warming.
Writing in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature, the scientists say that more than 60 closely related frog and toad species have vanished from the tropical forests of Latin America during the last few decades, partly because of warming temperatures. The team says this is the first time such a connection has been made.
The research team found a "near lock-step (link) between the timing of losses and changes in climate," said lead scientist Alan Pounds of the Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve and Tropical Science Center in Costa Rica.
"It's a very striking pattern, and it's hard to find another explanation for it."The group did not identify the other contributing causes. Pounds and his team say the warmer temperatures of the late 20th century led to better growing conditions for a fungus that kills frogs and toads.
Jan 12, 2006
Traci Watson
USA Today
________
A team of biologists and climate scientists says in a new study that it has linked the extinction of a widespread group of animals to global warming.
Writing in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature, the scientists say that more than 60 closely related frog and toad species have vanished from the tropical forests of Latin America during the last few decades, partly because of warming temperatures. The team says this is the first time such a connection has been made.
The research team found a "near lock-step (link) between the timing of losses and changes in climate," said lead scientist Alan Pounds of the Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve and Tropical Science Center in Costa Rica.
"It's a very striking pattern, and it's hard to find another explanation for it."The group did not identify the other contributing causes. Pounds and his team say the warmer temperatures of the late 20th century led to better growing conditions for a fungus that kills frogs and toads.
Jan 12, 2006
