New Study Reveals Link Between 'Climate Footprints' and Mass Mammal Extinction

Wiley ^ | May 18, 2010 | Ben Norman

[SunkenCiv]

"Between 50,000 and 3,000 years before present (BP) 65% of mammal species weighing over 44kg went extinct, together with a lower proportion of small mammals," said lead author Dr David Nogues-Bravo working from the Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate in University of Copenhagen. "Why these species became extinct in such large numbers has been hotly debated for over a century."

During the last 50,000 years the global climate became colder and drier, reaching full glacial conditions 21,000 years before present time. Since then the climate has become warmer, and this changing climate created new opportunities for colonization of new regions by humans. While both of these global change actors played significant roles in species extinction this study reveals that changing climate was a significant force driving this mass extinction.

"Until now global evidence to support the climate change argument has been lacking, a large part of existing evidence was based on local or regional estimates between numbers of extinctions, dates of human arrivals and dates of climate change," said Dr Nogues-Bravo.

"Our approach is completely different. By dealing with the issue at a global scale we add a new dimension to the debate by showing that the impact of climate change was not equal across all regions, and we quantify this to reveal each continent's "footprint of climate change."

The study shows that climate change had a global influence over extinctions throughout the late quaternary, but the level of extinction seems to be related to each continent's footprint of climate change. When comparing continents it can then be seen that in Africa, where the climate changed to a relatively lesser extent there were fewer extinctions. However, in North America, more species suffered extinction, as reflected by a greater degree of climate change.

[SunkenCiv]

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The Cycle of Cosmic Catastrophes: Flood, Fire, and Famine in the History of Civilization by Richard Firestone, Allen West, and Simon Warwick-Smith

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[SunkenCiv]

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• Comet trail may have caused last ice age - UPI.com

[SunkenCiv]

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[Tarpon]

It’s also quite possible that man ate the bigger beasts first. Cold does things like that to people.

[steelyourfaith]

Thanx !

 

Beam me to Planet Gore !

[FrankR]

"Between 50,000 and 3,000 years before present (BP) "

WTF is "before present (BP)"?

It must be the politically correct/atheist version of "BC", Before Christ. I guess "AD" is now just "P", for Present.

Or maybe "BP" could stand for "Bowing President", huh?

[Tarpon]

Before present is just a geologic time measurement term that lays out the years linearly. I doubt it has any other connotations. Just that it’s easy to count back from 0.

BUT — It’s possible the liberals did it ... but it might be one thing that makes stuff simpler for science, worldwide.

[FrankR]

Thanks...I just never heard it before, and it fits their modus operandi completely...so I assumed.....

[dalebert]

I know this doesnt apply but didnt some Brit call for the end of the UN climate liars commitee?

[qam1]

The problem is that prior there was already constant change in the ‘Climate Footprints’ with ice ages coming and going for at least a million years.

The big mammals survived & thrived these previous changes seemingly with no problem.

But what was the difference between the previous retreats and the last one?

Man.

So methinks this is just another PC study, desperately trying to keep the myth of the Noble Savage going.

[Interesting Times]

Except that the extinctions overwhelming occurred in North America rather than the other populated continents. I suspect one or more impact events, myself...

[djf]

Agreed. The article title and conclusions are totally misleading.
The vast majority of the extinctions can be directly traced to whatever happened 11,000 years ago.

This would be like blaming high deer mortality on the falling leaves in the fall and ignoring the guys out there who happen to have guns...

More “Publish or Perish”...
Even if it’s dreck...

[Luke21]

These jerks tell us our very breathing causes global warming. There is no end to their nonsense, which is always written in “doublespeak.”

[qam1]

Except that the extinctions overwhelming occurred in North America rather than the other populated continents.

North America lost the most because it had the most (or we just currently know of more species), but Australia and South America also lost all of their large mammals.

The pattern is clear, whenever man showed up large mammals start to go extinct.

I suspect one or more impact events, myself...

yes impacts are really, really cool, but unless just by some amazing coincidence that whenever man showed up an impact just happened to always occur in the same exact location the impact(s) hypothesis doesn't make sense.

[JimRed]

"Between 50,000 and 3,000 years before present (BP) 65% of mammal species weighing over 44kg went extinct, together with a lower proportion of small mammals,"...

No big mystery- more meat on the big guys than the little guys; our ancestors ate them!

[SunkenCiv]

You may be onto something. Could you pass the gravy, please?

[colorado tanker]

The vast majority of the extinctions can be directly traced to whatever happened 11,000 years ago.

That would be around the end of the Younger Dryas, a nasty cold event that interrupted the warming from the bottom of the last glacial period.

[ForGod'sSake]

Thanks Civ. This particular article appears to be a load o' crap. One of these days I intend to go through that list to see what new theories I've missed. Probably a lot but I suspect it's safe to assume a flood or really BIG wave doesn't fit within any of the theories???

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks ForGod’sSake.