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New report shows tens of thousands of species at risk of extinction from climate changeApril 11, 2006 - TORONTO – Climate change will cause an unprecedented extinction of tens of thousands of species around the world, says a groundbreaking new study published in the scientific journal Conservation Biology. “Climate change is rapidly becoming the most serious threat to the planet’s biodiversity,” said lead author Dr. Jay Malcolm, an associate 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.” Partly funded by the David Suzuki Foundation and World Wildlife Fund (WWF), this is the first study to document the extreme vulnerability of biological hotspots around the world to the effects of climate change. Dr. Malcolm and other scientists studied habitat changes in 25 global biodiversity hotspots – areas that are home to a disproportionate number of the world’s species. Covering only about one per cent of the earth’s terrestrial surface, these areas are home to 44 per cent of the world’s plants and 35 per cent of the vertebrates. Areas particularly vulnerable to climate change include the tropical Andes, the Cape Floristic region of South Africa, Southwest Australia, and the Atlantic forests of Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina. “Although Canada wasn’t included in the study, the results serve as a warning of the kinds of effects climate change will have on our wild spaces,” said Dr. Faisal Moola, the David Suzuki Foundation’s director of science. “This is because many of the factors that the study found to increase the risk of extinction due to climate change are of great importance in Canada as well.” The study found that animals and plants that are highly restricted in where they can live, so-called “endemic” species, are particularly at risk from the effects of climate change. In Canada, the Rocky Mountains, the Queen Charlotte Islands and the Far North are home to many such species, including many types of fish, butterflies and plants. “Because these species are found nowhere else on the planet, Canada has a global responsibility to ensure they don’t disappear due to climate change,” said Dr. Moola. “Canada’s parks and protected areas won’t be able to protect our biodiversity unless we have a national strategy to deal with climate change.” "Governments, industry and people everywhere have to start reducing fossil fuel pollution as if our lives depended on it. Actually, the very survival of tens of thousands of species does depend on action to avoid dangerous climate change," said Julia Langer, Director, Global Threats for WWF-Canada. The David Suzuki Foundation and WWF are calling on Prime Minister Stephen Harper to implement the Kyoto Protocol and start putting concrete solutions into action to reduce Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions. - 30 - The full report, Global Warming and Extinctions of Endemic Species From Biodiversity Hotspots, can be found online at http://individual.utoronto.ca/jay_malcolm/ The report was funded by the David Suzuki Foundation, World Wildlife Fund, the Center for Applied Biodiversity Science at Conservation International, and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. The study’s authors include scientists from the University of Toronto, University of New England, USDA Forest Service, World Wildlife Fund and Conservation International.
For more information or to arrange interviews, contact: Sarah Marchildon Dr. Faisal Moola Dr. Jay Malcolm Wendy Douglas Marshall Maher
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