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The Bramble Cay melomys, a rat native to Australia, is claimed to be the first mammal to go extinct from "human-induced" climate change. (Ian Bell, EHP, State of Queensland) In late February, the Australian government recognized the extinction of the Bramble Cay melomys, and it is probably the first mammal to go extinct due to "human-induced climate change," or anthropogenic climate change, according to a report by Queensland scientists. According to multiple studies published in peer-reviewed scientific journals, 97 percent or more of actively publishing climate scientists have arrived at the hypothesis that "climate-warming trends over the past century are...

The Bramble Cay melomys has become more famous in extinction than it ever was in life. A mouse-like rodent, the melomys amazingly survived on a 3.6 hectare grass-covered cay (a low-lying island in a coral reef) in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef like a ratty Robinson Crusoe for thousands of years. There, it thrived off just a few plant species until human-caused climate change—in the form of rising sea levels and increasing inundations of sea water on the low-lying island—wiped it off the planet. But, while the extinction has been reported widely, articles have missed an important point: the scientists who...