Al Gore wrote (or a ghost writer) in his 2006 book, An Inconvenient Truth, that global warming “is causing the loss of living species at a level comparable to the extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs 6.5 million years ago”. It is estimated that there are currently over 10 million species on the Earth, (Ayensu.E.s.,Ed.,Jungles, Crown Publishers, Nw York 1980, p. 7) more than any time in its history. New species are constantly replacing old. Extinctions have always been an integral part of the Earth’s history and in recent centuries mankind has been the cause of some. We have encroached on the habitat of some animals. But in fact not a single species has been shown to be either threatened or endangered by warming of the Earth by man’s increasing use of fossil fuels and the carbon dioxide emissions therefrom.
The recent alarmist report, to the contrary, issued by the UN, contains no physical evidence whatever. It is entirely based on cherry picked sampling data which is then fed into a mathematical equation primed to yield the absurd alarmist report which a willing media announces in shrieking tones (as usual). These people know they are lying but are not bothered by it, which is why we get so many horrid politicians.
A range of interrelated phenomena can contribute to extinctions.They include temperature changes, habitat destruction, competition, invasive diseases and reproductive failure. Species are more vulnerable when there are major temperature changes over a short period which is what most believe caused the end of the dinosaurs following an asteroid impact. The woolly mammoth and sabre tooth tiger became extinct in North America because their reproductive rate could not keep up with population losses. And there is no question that human activities have contributed to extinctions as the population expanded into animal habitats.
However none of these extinctions have had anything to due with climate change in the past century and no proof exists that any climate change is due to human use of fossil fuel.
Happily many animals, still endangered are seeing their populations flourish due to excellent conservation programs. White tail deer, moose, blue whales and wolves are but a few of these.
Tropical forests cover less than 12% of all land, yet they contain over 50% of all 10 million plant and animal species that inhabit the entire Earth. The arctic covers 10% of the land area but contains only 600 plant species and only 100 species of birds, no reptiles or amphibians and only 20 mammals (Klein, R., Polar Ecosystem, Encyclopedia Britannica (https://.britannica.com/science/polar-ecosystem)
If tropical conditions allow life to thrive, what conditions lead to extinctions? S.J. Gould, in his 1993, The Book of Life, tracks 20 mass extinctions in the geologic record. All of which give strong clues for their occurrence pointing to global cooling.
Conservation organizations routinely rank species relative to their risk of extinction. Threat levels are determined by considering a wide range of factors including existing and historical populations and whether populations are increasing or decreasing, and whether habitats are being destroyed. As example, mountain gorillas, with only 400 individuals and hawksbill turtles (25,000) are both on the critical endangered list. Snow leopards (6000) and sea lions (50,000) are both considered to be endangered (Species List: Endangered, Vulnerable, and Threatened Animals, World Wildlife Fund www.world wildlife.org/species/directory.sort=extinction,5/22/17).
The “Poster animal” of the climate change movement is the polar bear. They are portrayed as cute and cuddly but in fact are at the top of the food chain eating baby seals for sustenance. They are shown stranded on ice floes. Al Gore says all the ice is melting and they will have no place to live. But in reality the floating ice (pack ice) is not melting significantly and the polar bear is thriving. It’s numbers have quintupled in the past 50 years from 5000 to 25000 .
Fear sells well in our nation, and this why climate alarmists use species extinction to build their false case before all of us who treasure our wonderful world of animals.