Species Dying Sooner than Expected Due to Global Warming

A review of hundreds of research studies contends that animal and plant species have begun dying off or changing sooner than predicted because of global warming.

Even biologists and ecologists are surprised because it is occurring so rapidly, CNN reports.

"We are finally seeing species going extinct," said University of Texas biologist Camille Parmesan, author of the study. "Now we've got the evidence. It's here. It's real. This is not just biologists' intuition. It's what's happening."

Parmesan said she worries most about the cold-adapted species, such as emperor penguins that have dropped from 300 breeding pairs to just nine in the western Antarctic Peninsula, or polar bears, which are dropping in numbers and weight in the Arctic.

The cold-dependent species on mountaintops have nowhere to go, which is why two-thirds of a certain grouping of frog species have already gone extinct, Parmesan reported.

College students representing more than 1,500 young evangelicals from 41 US states recently presented a statement urging government and religious leaders to take definitive action against global warming.

The statement entitled, "Cooling Our Future: A Declaration by Young Evangelicals on Climate Change," was presented last Thursday by 30 students from Christian colleges. In the declaration's opening, students expressed their concern about global warming as "the degradation of God's creation".

UN climate talks in the Kenyan capital took place over the past two weeks, with about 70 environment ministers agreeing last Friday to a 2008 review of Kyoto. It is hoped a review at that time will act as a springboard to bigger emission cuts by richer countries beyond 2012.