Race Against Extinction

While Americans keep migrating south to the warmer Sunbelt states many species of animals and plants in this hemisphere are migrating in the opposite direction in search of cooler regions because of global warming. In a BBC News article NASA scientist James Hansen is quoted as saying " If we do not slow down the rate of global warming, many species are likely to become extinct. In effect, we are pushing them off the planet." Hansen was part of a research team which showed that the world now appears to be as warm or warmer than it has been since the last major ice age ended 12,000 years ago. The scientists said that the animal and plant migrations are not keeping pace with the increase in temperature. Hansen further warned that if the global temperature increased by another 2°C or 3°C "we will likely see changes that make Earth a different planet to the one that we know."