Mass exctinction underway

Global warming threatens mass extinctions - study

By Alister Doyle

OSLO (Reuters) - Global warming could wipe out a quarter of all species of plants and animals on earth by 2050 in one of the biggest mass extinctions since the dinosaurs, according to an international study.

The United Nations said the report, highlighting threats to creatures ranging from Australian butterflies to Spanish eagles, showed a need for the world to back the Kyoto protocol, meant to brake rising temperatures linked to human pollution.

"A quarter of all species of plants and land animals, or more than a million in all, could be driven to extinction," said Chris Thomas, professor of Conservation Biology at England's University of Leeds.

Thomas, lead author of the study published in the science journal Nature, told Reuters that emissions from cars and factories could push temperatures up to levels not seen for one million to 30 million years by the end of the century, threatening many habitats.

The survey, the largest of its kind to date, studied global warming links to 1,103 species of plants, mammals, birds, reptiles, frogs and insects in South Africa, Brazil, Europe, Australia, Mexico and Costa Rica and extrapolated findings as far as 2050. It did not examine the oceans.

"Climate change is the biggest new extinction threat," said Lee Hannah, a co-author, at Conservation International in Washington DC. Many species would simply be unable to adapt or migrate to new habitats.

Thomas said the feared extinctions could be one of the worst since the dinosaurs were wiped out 65 million years ago. "This could be on a par with some of the geologically significant extinctions," he said. Much more at link.

When asked about the phenomon, President Bush said only this, "I've taken mass extinction from the world of them egghead scientists, and brought it right out front of everyday Americans with my sweeping reforms of environmental laws. In fact, it's a cornerstone of my administration."

Meanwhile.....

France Faces Superstitions Head On

PARIS (Reuters) - French President Jacques Chirac said on Wednesday civil servants should not display religious symbols at work, widening a heated debate as France prepares to ban Islamic headscarves in public schools.

It was the first time Chirac specifically addressed the issue of religious symbols in the civil service though he has made similar comments on schools and hospitals. He said workers in public services had to adhere to principles of neutrality.

"It is evident that no civil servant should display his religious beliefs while carrying out his job," Chirac said in a speech to civil servants.

"It is also evident that basic rules of community life have to be respected: nothing justifies, for example, a patient in hospital refusing to be treated by a doctor of the opposite sex."

France's conservatives plan to rush through a ban on religious symbols such as Islamic headscarves, Jewish skullcaps and large Christian crosses in public schools, sparking criticism from many religious leaders.

The planned law, aimed mainly at veiled Muslim schoolgirls, split France's main Muslim group on Wednesday. The group's nominal head warned that protests against the law would be dangerous but other leaders said they approved of them.

A first protest march in Paris last month drew over 3,000 people, many of them veiled young women.

If only ANOTHER leader would follow Chirac's lead, and keep his superstitions private.