Whitehouse Sponsors Global Warming Bill Aimed at Wildlife Protection

I.                     Calls for National Strategy to Address Threat of Climate Change to America's Wildlife, Oceans, and Endangered Species

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Washington, D.C. – Calling global warming the single greatest threat to the world’s natural environment, U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) today announced new legislation calling for a national strategy to address the threat of climate change to America’s wildlife. 

A member of the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works (EPW), Whitehouse said that global warming has already begun to have a severe and lasting impact on wildlife populations and marine ecosystems in Rhode Island and around the world.  Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), chair of the EPW Committee, will be an original cosponsor of the bill.

“As the waters of Narragansett Bay grow warmer, cold-water fish species with high commercial value, like winter flounder, have been replaced by warmer-water species, like scup, whose value to our fishermen is lower,” Whitehouse said.  “Melting sea ice in Greenland is pushing polar bears closer to inhabited villages in search of food.  As we work to mitigate the causes of global warming, we must also take urgent action to address its effects on wildlife, oceans, and other natural systems on which we all depend.”

The Global Warming Wildlife Survival Act will: 

§         Set New National Strategies to Address Climate Change’s Impact on Wildlife and Oceans. The bill would direct the federal government to develop coordinated national strategies to identify, monitor, and protect or restore wildlife populations and habitats that are likely to be harmed by global warming; and to protect, maintain, and restore coastal and marine ecosystems to help them better withstand ocean acidification, sea level rise, and other stresses related to climate change. 

§         Create Advisory Panels to Share Scientific Research and Advice. The bill would create Advisory Boards, with members appointed by the President of the National Academy of Sciences, and a new National Global Warming and Wildlife Science Center within the U.S. Geological Survey, to conduct research and provide scientific and technical advice on strategies to help wildlife, oceans, and coastal ecosystems adapt to global warming. A special panel would also be convened to look specifically at the impacts of climate change on endangered species.

§         Provide Resources to Help States Protect Wildlife and Marine Ecosystems. The bill would provide grants and other federal resources to help states, territories, and Indian tribes study wildlife, oceans, and habitats that may be affected by global warming, and plan and implement programs to mitigate the effects of climate change on these populations. 

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Land Clearing Triggers Hotter Droughts, Australian Research Shows

New research shows that 150 years of land clearing has added significantly to the warming and drying of eastern Australia. (Credit: iStockphoto/Tomasz Resiak)

ScienceDaily (Oct. 31, 2007) — A University of Queensland scientist has led groundbreaking research which shows that clearing of native vegetation has made recent Australian droughts hotter.

In an Australian first, they applied the CSIRO Mark 3 climate model, satellite data and the DNRW supercomputer, and showed that 150 years of land clearing added significantly to the warming and drying of eastern Australia.

“Our work shows that the 2002-03 El Nino drought in eastern Australia was on average two degrees Centigrade hotter because of vegetation clearing,”said Dr Clive McAlpine  of the University of Queensland.

“Based on this research, it would be fair to say that the current drought has been made worse by past clearing of native vegetation. Our findings highlight that it is too simplistic to attribute climate change purely to greenhouse gases," he continued. “Protection and restoration of Australia's native vegetation needs to be a critical consideration in mitigating climate change.”

Dr McAlpine of UQ's Centre for Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Science and Mr Jozef Syktus, principal scientist in the Queensland Natural Resources and Water Department (DNRW), headed a study which will be published later this year in Geophysical Research Letters, the journal of the American Geophysical Union. Co-authors are Dr Hamish McGowan, Associate Professor Stuart Phinn and Dr Ravinesh Deo – all of UQ – Dr Peter Lawrence of the University of Colorado and Dr Ian Watterson of CSIRO.

The researchers found that mean summer rainfall decreased by between four percent and 12 percent in eastern Australia, and by four percent and eight percent in southwest Western Australia. These were the regions of most extensive historical clearing.

“Consistent with actual climate trends, eastern Australia was between 0.4 degrees Centigrade and two degrees Centigrade warmer, and southwest Western Australia was between 0.4 degrees and 0.8 degrees warmer.

“Native vegetation moderates climate fluctuations, and this has important, largely unrecognised consequences for agriculture and stressed land and water resources,” Dr McAlpine said.

Australian native vegetation holds more moisture that subsequently evaporates and recycles back as rainfall. It also reflects into space less shortwave solar radiation than broadacre crops and improved pastures, and this process keeps the surface temperature cooler and aids cloud formation.

The project, Modeling Impacts of Vegetation Cover Change on Regional Climate, was funded by Land and Water Australia Research and Development Corporation (Canberra) as part of their Innovation Research Program.

Adapted from materials provided by University Of Queensland.

Gland, Switzerland, 12 September, 2007, World Conservation Union (IUCN) Life on Earth is disappearing fast and will continue to do so unless urgent action is taken, according to the 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

There are now 41,415 species on the IUCN Red List and 16,306 of them are threatened with extinction, up from 16,118 last year. The total number of extinct species has reached 785 and a further 65 are only found in captivity or in cultivation.

One in four mammals, one in eight birds, one third of all amphibians and 70% of the worlds assessed plants on the 2007 IUCN Red List are in jeopardy.

Julia Marton-Lef趲e, Director General of the World Conservation Union (IUCN), said: This years IUCN Red List shows that the invaluable efforts made so far to protect species are not enough. The rate of biodiversity loss is increasing and we need to act now to significantly reduce it and stave off this global extinction crisis. This can be done, but only with a concerted effort by all levels of society.

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species is widely recognized as the most reliable evaluation of the worlds species. It classifies them according to their extinction risk and brings into sharp focus the ongoing decline of the worlds biodiversity and the impact that mankind is having upon life on Earth.

Jane Smart, Head of IUCNs Species Programme, said: We need to know the precise status of species in order to take the appropriate action. The IUCN Red List does this by measuring the overall status of biodiversity, the rate at which it is being lost and the causes of decline.

Our lives are inextricably linked with biodiversity and ultimately its protection is essential for our very survival. As the world begins to respond to the current crisis of biodiversity loss, the information from the IUCN Red List is needed to design and implement effective conservation strategies for the benefit of people and nature.

Some highlights from this years IUCN Red List

The decline of the great apes

A reassessment of our closest relatives, the great apes, has revealed a grim picture. The Western Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) has moved from Endangered to Critically Endangered, after the discovery that the main subspecies, the Western Lowland Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla), has been decimated by the commercial bushmeat trade and the Ebola virus. Their population has declined by more than 60% over the last 20-25 years, with about one third of the total population found in protected areas killed by the Ebola virus over the last 15 years.

The Sumatran Orangutan (Pongo abelii) remains in the Critically Endangered category and the Bornean Orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) in the Endangered category. Both are threatened by habitat loss due to illegal and legal logging and forest clearance for palm oil plantations. In Borneo, the area planted with oil palms increased from 2,000 km2 to 27,000 km2 between 1984 and 2003, leaving just 86,000 km2 of habitat available to the species throughout the island.

First appearance of corals on the IUCN Red List

Corals have been assessed and added to the IUCN Red List for the very first time. Ten Galᰡgos species have entered the list, with two in the Critically Endangered category and one in the Vulnerable category. Wellingtons Solitary Coral (Rhizopsammia wellingtoni) has been listed as Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct). The main threats to these species are the effects of El Ni񯠡nd climate change.

In addition, 74 seaweeds have been added to the IUCN Red List from the Galᰡgos Islands. Ten species are listed as Critically Endangered, with six of those highlighted as Possibly Extinct. The cold water species are threatened by climate change and the rise in sea temperature that characterizes El Ni񯮠The seaweeds are also indirectly affected by overfishing, which removes predators from the food chain, resulting in an increase of sea urchins and other herbivores that overgraze these algae.

Yangtze River Dolphin listed as Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct)

After an intensive, but fruitless, search for the Yangtze River Dolphin, or Baiji, (Lipotes vexillifer) last November and December, it has been listed as Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct). The dolphin has not been placed in a higher category as further surveys are needed before it can be definitively classified as Extinct. A possible sighting reported in late August 2007 is currently being investigated by Chinese scientists. The main threats to the species include fishing, river traffic, pollution and degradation of habitat.

India and Nepals crocodile, the Gharial (Gavialis gangeticus) is also facing threats from habitat degradation and has moved from Endangered to Critically Endangered. Its population has recently declined by 58%, from 436 breeding adults in 1997 to just 182 in 2006. Dams, irrigation projects, sand mining and artificial embankments have all encroached on its habitat, reducing its domain to 2% of its former range.

Vulture crisis

This year the total number of birds on the IUCN Red List is 9,956 with 1,217 listed as threatened. Vultures in Africa and Asia have declined, with five species reclassified on the IUCN Red List. In Asia, the Red-headed Vulture (Sarcogyps calvus) moved from Near Threatened to Critically Endangered while the Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus) moved from Least Concern to Endangered. The rapid decline in the birds over the last eight years has been driven by the drug diclofenac, used to treat livestock.

In Africa, three species of vulture have been reclassified, including the White-headed Vulture (Trigonoceps occipitalis), which moved from Least Concern to Vulnerable, the White-backed Vulture (Gyps africanus) and Rppells Griffon (Gyps rueppellii), both moved from Least Concern to Near Threatened. The birds decline has been due to a lack of food, with a reduction in wild grazing mammals, habitat loss and collision with power lines. They have also been poisoned by carcasses deliberately laced with insecticide. The bait is intended to kill livestock predators, such as hyenas, jackals and big cats, but it also kills vultures.

North American reptiles added to IUCN Red List

After a major assessment of Mexican and North American reptiles, 723 were added to the IUCN Red List, taking the total to 738 reptiles listed for this region. Of these, 90 are threatened with extinction. Two Mexican freshwater turtles, the Cuatro Cienegas Slider (Trachemys taylori) and the Ornate Slider (Trachemys ornata), are listed as Endangered and Vulnerable respectively. Both face threats from habitat loss. Mexicos Santa Catalina Island Rattlesnake (Crotalus catalinensis) has also been added to the list as Critically Endangered, after being persecuted by illegal collectors.

Plants in peril

There are now 12,043 plants on the IUCN Red List, with 8,447 listed as threatened. The Woolly-stalked Begonia (Begonia eiromischa) is the only species to have been declared extinct this year. This Malaysian herb is only known from collections made in 1886 and 1898 on Penang Island. Extensive searches of nearby forests have failed to reveal any specimens in the last 100 years.

The Wild Apricot (Armeniaca vulgaris), from central Asia, has been assessed and added to the IUCN Red List for the first time, classified as Endangered. The species is a direct ancestor of plants that are widely cultivated in many countries around the world, but its population is dwindling as it loses habitat to tourist developments and is exploited for wood, food and genetic material.

Banggai Cardinalfish heavily exploited by aquarium trade

Overfishing continues to put pressure on many fish species, as does demand from the aquarium trade. The Banggai Cardinalfish (Pterapogon kauderni), which is highly prized in the aquarium industry, is entering the IUCN Red List for the first time in the Endangered category. The fish, which is only found in the Banggai Archipelago, near Sulawesi, Indonesia, has been heavily exploited, with approximately 900,000 extracted every year. Conservationists are calling for the fish to be reared in captivity for the aquarium trade, so the wild populations can be left to recover.

These highlights from the 2007 IUCN Red List are merely a few examples of the rapid rate of biodiversity loss around the world. The disappearance of species has a direct impact on peoples lives. Declining numbers of freshwater fish, for example, deprive rural poor communities not only of their major source of food, but of their livelihoods as well.

Species loss is our loss

Conservation action is slowing down biodiversity loss in some cases, but there are still many species that need more attention from conservationists. This year, only one species has moved to a lower category of threat. The Mauritius Echo Parakeet (Psittacula eques), which was one of the worlds rarest parrots 15 years ago, has moved from Critically Endangered to Endangered. The improvement is a result of successful conservation action, including close monitoring of nesting sites and supplementary feeding combined with a captive breeding and release programme.

Jean-Christophe Vi鬠Deputy Head of IUCNs Species Programme, said: "From previous experience, we know that conservation can work, but unfortunately this year we are documenting an improvement for only one species. This is really worrying in light of government commitments around the world, such as the 2010 target to slow down the rate of biodiversity loss. Clearly, this shows that much more needs to be done to support the work of thousands of enthusiastic people working everyday throughout the world to preserve the diversity of life on this planet."

Holly Dublin, Chair of IUCNs Species Survival Commission, said: Conservation networks dedicated to fighting the extinction crisis, such as the Species Survival Commission, are working effectively. But much more help and support is needed as environmentalists cannot do it alone. The challenge of the extinction crisis also requires attention and action from the general public, the private sector, governments and policy makers to ensure that global biodiversity remains intact for generations to come.

To help IUCN in its fight against the extinction crisis, donate now. http://www.iucn.org/themes/ssc/donation/donation_page.htm

Notes to editors

For information about more species on this years IUCN Red List please visit www.iucn.org/redlist and www.iucnredlist.org

A full 2007 IUCN Red List media package is available, including photo gallery, two-minute video B roll, species changes, fact sheets on key species, case studies and statistics

2 minute video B roll and photo gallery of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species prepared by Arkive www.arkive.org

For more information / interviews with leading IUCN spokespeople please contact:

Lynette Lew, IUCN Marketing and Communications Officer, Species Programme, Tel: +41 22 999 0153; Mob: +41 79 527 7221; Fax: +41 22 999 0015; Email: lynette.lew

iucn.org ; Web: www.iucn.org

Sarah Halls, IUCN Media Relations Officer, Tel: +41 22 999 0127; Mob: +41 79 24 72 926; Fax: +41 22 999 0020; Email: sarah.halls