Is global warming a threat to the human species?
A careful examination of a large number of species in numerous parts of the planet projects that a stunning portion of them will be %26quot;committed to extinction%26quot; in just 50 years, with only modest global warming (Thomas, 2004). %26quot;Committed to extinction%26quot; means that, in the language of poet Pedro Pietri (1968?), %26quot;their names [are] listed in the telephone directory of destruction,%26quot; that is, the book of death. It does not mean that 50 years from now all these %26quot;committed%26quot; species will be gone, but rather that they will no longer have a habitat in which they can survive. The demise of the last members of such species may hang on for some decades, but their ultimate doom is assured.

The findings are the result of a comprehensive examination of more than a thousand terrestrial species -- plants, insects, mammals, birds, frogs and reptiles -- in regions representing about 20% of the Earth%26#039;s surface. The regions studied are located in all continents except Asia, and represent a wide variety of environments: boreal (northern), temperate, and tropical forests, tundra, grasslands, savannah, deserts. The amount of warming that was projected in the study was shockingly small. Three projections were used: 0.8 to 1.7 °C (1.4 to 3.0°F) in the minimal warming case, 1.8 to 2.0°C (3.2 to 3.6°F) with mid-range climate change, over 2.0°C (3.6°F) at maximum (Thomas, 2004; Pounds and Puschendorf, 2004).

But with only this rather minimal amount of warming, and even with an assumed ability to disperse to more favorable environments, 11, 19, and 33 percent of total species (in minimal, mid-range, and maximal cases, respectively) will disappear. Mortality among those species with little or no ability to disperse will be considerably higher (34, 45, and 58 % in the respective no dispersal cases). Moreover, the %26quot;minimal%26quot; case (0.8 to 1.7 °C/1.4 to 3.0°F) represents the minimum expected warming by 2050: as the study%26#039;s authors point out, this means that this level of extinction is inevitable (Thomas, 2004). In 50 years, more than 10% of terrestrial species -- at minimum -- will be on a one-way path to extinction; in 100 years, almost all those species will be gone.

%26quot;Contrary to previous projections,%26quot; the authors note, %26quot;[climate warming] (which they attribute to human activity) is likely to be the greatest threat in many if not most regions.%26quot; The study did not examine the %26quot;historically unprecedented%26quot; carbon dioxide levels with which organisms will have to contend, or interactions between climate change and other ecological threats, which the authors indicate are likely to be even more severe than climate change in isolation (Thomas, 2004). The message of this study is simple: climate change kills -- and kills extraordinary numbers of living things -- even when it is minor.
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The article above also outlines how moderate global warming can lead to methane release and abrupt, catastrophic global warming, as happened in the Permian-Triassic extinction, wiping out the vast majority of species on the planet. So much for the people who find it reassuring that %26quot;natural warming happened in the past.%26quot; 0% 0 Votes

People aren%26#039;t going to all die because of GW. We might lose a couple billion people when food and water gets in short supply. Crops aren%26#039;t going to grow so well when the pollinating animals die off from environmental stresses like too much heat or too much/not enough rain.... We will have to deal with tropical and sub tropical diseases in places they aren%26#039;t in now. Life will most likely be different than it is now, but we won%26#039;t completely dissappear as a species. 0% 0 Votes

Nope.
Optimum world wide temps. are 11 degrees above todays. 17% 1 Vote

It depends where you live, your back yard may turn into a desert or a lake front property. 0% 0 Votes

If the oil continue to take all their money out of the market , it will not be long till we don%26#039;t have any. 0% 0 Votes

No, it has happened before. The Roman warm period and the Medieval Warm period were both times of prosperity. It%26#039;s the cold periods that were a threat. 0% 0 Votes

Global warming is a joke. 0% 0 Votes

duh! 0% 0 Votes

yes, because if the temperature rises1 to 2 degrees there will be no ice in the Attic ocean. But if the temperature rise 2 to 3 degrees the amazon will turn into a desert.But if the temperature rises 5 to 6 degrees major cities (new york, San Diego, Miami etc) will be flooded under water. i saw a commercial when i was waching american idol a while back but i dont think it is true but if scientist said that would happen i guess it would. If it does it will happen in like 100 years but if we keep we keep up our terrible polutin it might happen sooner. Scientist are still finding ways to decrease polution so it wont happen for a while. 0% 0 Votes