Climate change is threatening extinctions

NEW YORK, June 12 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say their research is providing the first study showing global warming is hastening extinction for some of Earth's reptiles and amphibians.

The scientists from the American Museum of Natural History say global warming forces species to move up tropical mountains as their habitats shift upward.

Christopher Raxworthy, the museum's associate curator of herpetology, predicts at least three species of amphibians and reptiles found in Madagascar's mountainous north could become extinct between 2050 and 2100 because of habitat loss associated with rising global temperatures. The species, currently moving upslope to compensate for habitat loss at lower and warmer altitudes, will eventually have no place to go, he said.

"Two things together -- highly localized distribution close to the very highest summits, and the magnitude of these upslope shifts in response to ongoing warming -- make a poisonous cocktail for extinction," said Raxworthy.

The findings are presented in the journal Global Change Biology.