CLIMATE NEWS
Frogs that can take the heat expected to fare better in a changing world
Climate change may outpace deforestation as habitat threat in tropics
Amphibians that tolerate higher temperatures are likely to fare better in a world affected by climate change, disease and habitat loss, according to two recent studies from the University of California, Davis.
Frogs are disappearing globally, and the studies examine why some survive while others perish. The studies reveal that thermal tolerance -- the ability to withstand higher temperatures -- may be a key trait in predicting amphibian declines.
HEAT-TOLERANT FROGS ESCAPE DEADLY FUNGUS
One of the world's deadliest wildlife pandemics is caused by a fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, or Bd. The fungus is linked to several amphibian extinctions and global declines.
A study published online June 24 in the journal Ecology Letters describes how amphibians that can tolerate high temperatures are at lower risk of infection by the fungus. This is likely because Bd grows best in cool environments. Frogs with low thermal tolerances are essentially trapped in the same thermal niche as the fungus, whereas species with high thermal tolerance can escape infection.
"Our study helps us better understand who the 'winners' and 'losers' may be following infection outbreaks and why," said senior author Brian Todd, associate professor of conservation biology in the UC Davis Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology. "Understanding which traits make species susceptible to disease can help us better predict which species will be most affected by new disease outbreaks -- outbreaks that may be increasingly common in an age of climate change and pathogen transport facilitated by globalization."
Theresa May Shuts Climate Change Office
Less than a day after becoming the UK’s unelected PM, Theresa May closed the government’s climate change office and moved responsibility for the environment to a new Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy. The decision comes the same week as the UK's own advisers warned that the nation was not ready for the inevitable consequences of climate change.
UK poorly prepared for climate change impacts
The UK is poorly prepared for the inevitable impacts of global warming in coming decades, including deadly annual heatwaves, water shortages and difficulties in producing food
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First Half of 2016 Blows Away Temperature Records
Look at the gap between slow annual growth in global heating and the extraordinary jump since October.
