In Australia, the number of species threatened with extinction has increased by 25% in three years
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In the northern tropical forests of Australia, the number of species threatened with extinction due to climate change is increasing rapidly. Since 2020, their number has increased by 25%.
In a state of the environment report provided to the Queensland government this week by the state’s Wet Tropics Management and Conservation Authority, environmentalists stress that they are clearly monitoring the long-predicted effects of global warming, the Guardian writes.
The document contains “bleak but pragmatic” warnings about the deterioration of the health of some species, in particular the ringed opossum. These species were considered healthy when the Wet Tropics of Queensland were given international protection by UNESCO in 1988.
“The insidious and devastating threat posed by invasive species and diseases, as well as the effects of climate change, pose a real threat to the integrity of the region’s biodiversity,” – the report says.
| Photo: Kathleen Reeder Wildlife Photography/gettyimages |
It found that a number of species, including endemic tropical forest frogs, ringed opossums, upland birds and myrtle plants, “now face significant challenges due to accumulated and growing threats”.
Stephen Williams, a rainforest ecologist and director of the Wet Tropics Management, says his analysis has shown that the number of threatened vertebrate species has increased by 25% in the past three years.
The study shows that due to global warming in tropical forests “massive death of leaves”. It also causes biodiversity stress for cold-adapted mountain species.
Another growing threat to tropical forest biodiversity is forest fires.
“The ability of endemic tropical forest species in the region to recover after fire is poorly understood,” – the report says.
Williams says that because of this situation, the humid tropics “are at risk of losing the very thing that made them a World Heritage Site”.
“Science suggests that protecting endangered species can only be done through long-term planning, rethinking our investments and prioritizing landscape restoration to combat climate change.” – explained Christine Grant, Director of the Eastern Kuku Yalanji Indigenous Reserve.
We will remind you that earlier we wrote that in the mountains of Indonesia, scientists discovered an animal that was considered extinct for 60 years
Read also: Global warming has accelerated, we are in the early stages of a climate emergency – scientists
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