Species die out as Australia heats up
06 Sep 2004
The year 2004 has marked a worrying time for Australian native species, with 58 new plants and animals added to the Threatened Species List. There are now 1,695 plants and animals facing the threat of extinction in Australia.
Today on National Threatened Species Day, the anniversary of the death of the last Tasmanian Tiger in captivity, WWF-Australia is warning climate change could pose the biggest threat yet to species and hasten the extinction of some of our most famous inhabitants.
A recent Federal Government report from the Biodiversity Advisory Committee shows clear evidence of the emerging threat to Australian iconic species through climate change.
The mountain pygmy possum, the numbat, and the tree kangaroo are among some of Australia's most well-known animals in danger of extinction in a drastically warming world.
All are heading the way of the Tasmanian Tiger if their early warnings about climate change aren't heeded.
Within 20 years many species of Australia's famous eucalypts will have their entire present day population exposed to temperature and rainfalls under which no individual trees currently exist ? this is very bad news for species such as the koala.
Australia is most at risk by even small changes in temp. Only a 0.7 degrees of global warming has had a big impact on the severity of our worst drought on record - Australia's wet tropical mountain rainforests will decrease by 50 per cent with only 1°C rise in the global temperature.
Even the Australian Productivity Commission is worried about climate change and biodiversity- the economic rationalists are saying it's our responsibility to support biodiversity.
The Commission claims that 23 per cent of mammals, 16 per cent of amphibians, 9 per cent of fish, 9 per cent of birds, 7 per cent of reptiles and 5 per cent of plants are either listed as extinct or at risk of becoming so.
WWF-Australia says the only way to really tackle the problem of climate change is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 60 per cent by 2050.
Tomorrow, September 7th, is the anniversary of the death of the last Tasmanian tiger in captivity. This day is marked around Australia as National Threatened Species Day.
For further information and to arrange interviews please contact:
WWF-Australia Press Office Virginia Dew (02) 82021290 or email vdew@wwf.org.au or Jacqueline McArthur (02) 9281 5515 Mobile 0408626780
