Burnt forest in the Amazon. Photo by: Alexander Lees.

Species that live in habitats that are destroyed or become unusable do not go extinct immediately: they tend to phase out through generations.  This is called “extinction debt”, and a study in the journal Science predicts that the Brazilian Amazon may soon be in danger of losing huge numbers of species to the debt collectors.

• The study found that 80-90% of predicted extinctions in Amazonian birds, amphibians, and mammals has not happened yet, giving an opportunity to restore the destroyed habitats and ensure the future survival of the species
• Insects, reptiles, fish, plants and fungi were not included in the study because researchers were unable to get enough data on species and distribution, but they face many of the same threats of extinction due to deforestation
• The Amazon had lost almost 20%, or 720,000 km² , of her forest by 2008 and would lose even more if deforestation continues at its current pace
• It is unlikely that by the year 2020 deforestation would have either come to a halt or be reduced to 80%, both of which are optimistic scenarios used in the scientists model, which leads researchers to conclude that the extinction debt will only get larger (around 14% of family groups)
• Recent decline in deforestation rates have helped provide conservationists with time to develop plans for the future preservation and restoration of the Amazon, hopefully before the species are lost forever
• Many of the species that may go extinct in the coming years may never have been discovered by scientists

Want to read more? Click here to read the full article: http://news.mongabay.com/2012/0712-hance-extinction-debt-brazil.html

The Critically Endangered Indri lemur. Photo by Rhett A. Butler

Lemurs are a family of primate found only on the African island of Madagascar.  Most species of lemur are in danger of going extinct, as indicated by a report from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

• Of the 103 species of lemur in Madagascar, 94 species are at risk, which is double the number of lemurs at risk of extinction on the 2005 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
• 23 species are assessed as “Critically Endangered”, the highest risk category for species still found in the wild
• 52 species were classified at “Endangered”, which is the second highest risk category for threatened species
• 19 species were classified as “Vulnerable”, the third highest risk category
• Christoph Schwitzer, the Head of Research at Bristol Zoo Gardens and a member of the IUCN Species Survival Commission’s Primate Specialist Group, says that the numbers indicate that “Madagascar has, by far, the highest proportion of threatened species of any primate habitat region or any one country in the world…we now believe that lemurs are probably the most endangered of any group of vertebrates.”
• Lemur extinction is a threat to Madagascar’s biodiversity and to the Malagasy people
• Recent political instability in Madagascar has played a large role in losing important lemur conservation projects and an increase in detrimental activities such as hunting lemurs and illegal logging
• Ecotourism and conservation funds are returning to Madagascar as people become aware of the country’s plentiful and unique biodiversity, including the richest primate diversity on the planet
• New species of lemurs continue to be discovered in Madagascar, including a species of mouse lemur
• Centre Valbio, a new, cutting edge research station in Ranomafana National Park recently opened and will help study Madagascar’s wildlife, including the several species of lemur that live within the park

Coquerel’s sifakas kissing. Photo by Rhett A. Butler

Want to learn more? Read the full story: 91% of Madagascar’s lemurs threatened with extinction

For more information on Centre Valbio, click here: http://news.mongabay.com/2012/0702-centre-valbio.html

Oxfam distributing water in southern Somalia during last years famine. Photo by: Oxfam.

Climatologists have released a report that indicates that climate change is not only a threat to the future, but is having consequences in present day weather systems.

• Texans experienced a devastating drought in the La Niña year of 2011 that was twenty times more likely to occur in the context of current climate change than fifty years ago
• The Texas drought caused billions of dollars in damages including loss of cattle, crops and trees
• Britain is experiencing abnormally warm weather due to climate change; there has only been one warmer November in the past 350 years
• Climate change played a large role in the drought that led to famine in Somalia last year
• The probability of droughts and lack of rain in the areas around the Pacific and Indian oceans is much higher due to rising temperatures at the sea surface, especially during La Niña years
• Scientists recognize that not every extreme weather event is related to climate change, though many reports indicate that there are connections between extreme events and climate change
• Research that connects climate change to extreme weather events is becoming very important as it can help us understand how the world is changing and how we can better prepare ourselves
• One way to help slow climate change is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by cutting down on fossil fuel consumption and protecting important ecosystems

Want to learn more? Click here to read the full story: Climate change increased the probability of Texas drought, African famine, and other extreme weather

ICESCAPE scientist Karen Frey taking optical measurements in a melt pond, with the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy on the background. Photo: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Kathryn Hansen.

Researchers on an ICESCAPE expedition have unearthed giant underwater algae (or phytoplankton) bloombeneath the ice in the Arctic Ocean.

• ICESCAPE (Impacts of Climate on EcoSystems and Chemistry of the Arctic Pacific Environment) is a program sponsored by NASA study the impacts of climate change on the Arctic
• The ICECAPE researchers who discovered the rich plankton environment did not expect to see any under-ice blooms
• The NASA ocean biology and biogeochemistry program manager, Paula Bontempi, says that their discovery is “like finding the Amazon rainforest in the middle of the Mojave desert”
• These giant plankton blooms spanned 100kilometres (62 miles) underneath one ice pack
• Ice packs were four times biologically richer than the surrounding ice-free arctic water
• Plankton was able to survive off the sunlight that was magnified through the pools of melted ice above the pack and into the waters below
• Under-ice plankton blooms were able to reproduce quicker than their open water counterparts: they can double their numbers more than once a day instead of the two to three days the others took
• Researchers are unsure as to how long this under-ice plankton has been around, or if they will continue to flourish as the older, thicker ice is replaced, due to climate change, with the young, thin ice that allows light to pass through more easily
• Plankton is essential to life in the ocean and can also help to trap carbon dioxide (CO²)

Want to read more?  Click here to see the full story: Massive algae bloom in Arctic like “finding the Amazon rainforest in the Mojave Desert