|  The
vibrantly coloured Boyd’s forest dragon
is just one of a million species which are
threatened by global warming, according to
Leeds-led research which made front pages
and news broadcasts around the world.
“An unnatural disaster” declared
the Guardian’s front page headline after
the work by professor of conservation biology
Chris Thomas was published in Nature and circulated
by the University press office. The study
of how climate change could affect endangered
animals and plants around the world made the
front pages of UK and US papers, including
the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle,
Washington Post, Sydney Morning Herald and
the Zimbabwe News.
CNN, the BBC Six O’Clock News, Newsnight,
BBC World Service, BBC Radio 4 and Radio Five
Live were amongst the outlets to pick up the
story. Local species at risk include the red
kite, Scottish crossbill and, from Mexico,
the smokey pocket gopher. In an interview
with the Independent, Professor Thomas explained
the significance of the research: “For
some years scientists have said climate change
may lead to some extinctions but until now
there has been no numerical analysis of how
big this is likely to be.”
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