White Possum May Now be Extinct Due to Climate Change
The white lemuroid possum could now be extinct, thanks to climate change. Photo: WetTropics.gov.au
There’s a strong possibility that the Australian white lemuroid possum has now become extinct as a direct result of climate change.
The possum, endemic to the Daintree Rainforest in tropical north Queensland Australia, has not been seen for 3 years, despite numerous and extensive searches in the area.
The white lemuroid possum can only survive in the high altitude areas - where the temperatures are lower.
Higher Temperatures in Australia
According to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology’s 2005 Annual Australian Climate Change Statement, the annual mean maximum temperature for the region was between 0.5 and 1.0 degrees higher in the region in 2005 - the hottest year on record in Australia. Since then it has dropped slightly, but the damage could already have been done.
“We’ve already had in Australia, I think, it’s between 0.6 and 0.8 of a degree of increase in average temperature,” said Professor Stephen Williams, director of the university’s Center for Tropical Biodiversity and Climate Change.
But Professor Williams points out that it’s the extreme temperatures - rather than the average - that are the biggest threat for the possum.
“We do have local temperature data but, as I said, it’s not really that average increase that’s important, it’s the increase in the record temperatures.”
Due to the animal’s inability to maintain its own body temperature, four or five hours of temperatures over 30 degrees celcius is likely to kill it.
No Proof Yet
Despite media reports suggesting that the animal is definitely extinct, Professor Williams stresses that he doesn’t yet have proof of the animal’s extinction.
“I guess that’s the danger in talking to the media, because my original comments essentially were that we were concerned. We had made no claim that it had gone extinct,” he said.
“It is sort of irrelevant because it’s just as serious if it hasn’t gone extinct.
“The fact that it has declined to such a degree that we can’t find one suggests a very serious impact regardless of whether it’s actually completely gone extinct.”
If climate change has caused the animal’s extinction, it would be the first Australian mammal to become extinct due to climate change.
Other Possible Causes
William Kininmonth, former head of the National Climate Centre and a consultant to the World Meteorological Organisation, doubts that climate change is responsible.
“Well, I’d be very surprised if the white possum had become extinct because of climate change,” he told ABC’s The World Today radio program.
“Over the last few decades the climate really hasn’t changed that much at all. We’ve had some drought periods and some wet periods and it’s got a little bit warmer and there’s been some El Niño and so forth.
“But there’s been nothing that one could say is a remarkable trend. It’s more likely that habitat damage and other things have contributed to the demise of the white possum.”
December 26th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
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Nemo