Friday 18 December

Queensland wildlife most at risk from climate change

It appears that koalas, leatherback turtles and clown fish are among species most under threat from climate change.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) study found koalas face increasing malnutrition problems as the nutritional quality of eucalyptus leaves declines with the increasing carbon dioxide levels.

The report goes on to state that leatherback turtle nesting habitats are being affected by rising sea levels and increased storm activity, and clown fish (Ed note: You remember Nemo?) are struggling because of ocean acidification.

Wildlife Queensland spokesman Simon Baltais says action is needed because koala numbers have already been decimated. "The koala in general particularly in south-east Queensland in just the last ten year period has gone from common, to vulnerable to the brink of extinction and it hasn't got very much farther to go before disappearance and this is from the government's own scientific reports," he said.

Editors comments:   I used to think that climate change was something that was going to affect future generations. How wrong could I be ?

Why on earth are we leaving these important issues to politicians ? It is not part of their nature to make decisions of this magnitude but it is these massive decisions that they must make or God forbid we start seeing major species become extinct almost immediately.

I know there's a cost involved but the alternative is just not worth contemplating.  You can't bring animals back once they've become extinct but you can print some more money !  Maybe if we started to look after the planet instead of ourselves we might start moving in the right direction...or am I missing something ?