"Cliff" <Clhuprich@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:g8imv3lssto9bvv2av0r6gf7ovkv1rhmm9@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-04-07-voa48.cfm
> "WHO Warns Climate Change Endangers Human Health"
Nah, my vote in the global scaremongering competition goes to this one
.....
This one's a winner!
Koalas threatened as Climate change turns leaves to leather
Greg Roberts
April 05, 2008
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23485713-421,00.html
Eucalypts are becoming inedible
Climate changed blamed
Difficulties ahead for marsupials
KOALAS and other leaf-eating animals face a bleak future, with new
research showing eucalyptus leaves are becoming inedible because of
climate change.
Australian National University science professor Bill Foley says: "What
we're seeing, essentially, is that the staple diet of these animals is
being turned to leather.
"This is potentially a very significant development for the future of
some marsupial populations. Life is set to become extremely difficult
for these animals."
James Cook University researcher Ivan Lawler found through experiments
in greenhouses that increased levels of carbon dioxide reduced the
levels of nitrogen and other nutrients in eucalyptus leaves and boosted
tanins, a naturally occurring chemical toxin.
As a result, the levels of protein in the leaves, essential to the
survival of leaf-eating marsupials, fell sharply.
Dr Lawler said eucalyptus leaves were already poor nutritionally, with
low protein levels, requiring a koala to eat 700g a day to survive.
"With more carbon dioxide, animals need to eat more and more leaves to
get their required protein levels," he said.
"The balance in the leaves ****fts from nutrients to non-nutritional
fibre. It eventually reaches a threshold when leaves are no longer
tenable as a food source.
"The food chain for these animals is very finely balanced, and a small
change can have serious consequences."
Koalas and greater gliders depend entirely on eucalyptus leaves for
food, while some other marsupials, including brushtail and ringtail
possums and many wallaby species, feed extensively on the leaves. And
numerous insect species feed exclusively on eucalyptus leaves.
Scientists have re****ted mysterious declines in populations of greater
gliders and brushtail possums in parts of Queensland in areas where the
bushland remains in pristine condition, and where there are no apparent
pressures from hunting, disease or other factors.
Greater gliders have disappeared from places where they were numerous 20
years ago.
Zoologist Jane De Gabriel said the falling nutrient levels in eucalyptus
leaves could explain the population declines.
Ms De Gabriel found from her research in woodlands west of Townsville
that brushtail possums bred more frequently in areas of bushland with
high levels of protein in the eucalyptus leaves. The breeding success
rate was five times that of possums in areas with low protein levels.
"This suggests that in areas where nutrient levels are inadequate,
animals will not be able to reproduce successfully," Ms De Gabriel said.
"What follows from that are extinctions of wildlife populations. It's
pretty scary stuff."
Climate change has been linked to changes in the status and distribution
of many wildlife species. Animals most at risk in this country are those
living at high altitudes in Queensland's wet tropics and in the alps.
--
Warmest Regards
Bonzo
"Attributing global climate change to human CO2 production is akin to
trying to diagnose an automotive problem by ignoring the engine
(analogous to the Sun in the climate system) and the transmission (water
vapour) and instead focusing entirely, not on one nut on a rear wheel,
which would be analogous to total CO2, but on one thread on that nut,
which represents the human contribution." Dr. Timothy Ball, Chairman of
the Natural Resources Steward****p Project (NRSP.com), Former Professor
Of Climatology, University of Winnipeg
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