Warming said to have potential to wipe out most species - Reuters [View All]

Source: Reuters

Warming said to have potential to wipe out most species
Tue Oct 23, 2007 7:04pm EDT

By Michael Kahn

LONDON (Reuters) - Rising temperatures could wipe out
more than half of the earth's species in the next few
centuries, according to researchers who published a study
on Wednesday linking climate change to past mass
extinctions.

Researchers at the University of York said their study was
the first to examine the relationship between climate,
extinction rates and biodiversity over a long period.

The findings, published in the Proceedings of the Royal
Society, suggest climate change was the cause of large-
scale extinctions, said Peter Mayhew, an ecologist who
worked on the study.

The study analyzed fossil records and temperature
changes over 500 million years, and found that three
of the four biggest extinctions -- defined as when more
than 50 percent of species disappeared -- occurred
during periods of high temperatures.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSL2344053520071023