extinctions

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In Latest Climate Report, a 'Warning to Humanity'

Earth hit threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius over an entire year, with hottest January on record

(Newser) - World leaders walked away from the 2015 UN Climate Change Conference with the aim to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. We've now hit that threshold over a yearlong period, European climate monitors announced Thursday. February...

Seeing This Image Was 'Most Surreal Moment of My Life'
Seeing This Image
Was 'Most Surreal
Moment of My Life'
in case you missed it

Seeing This Image Was 'Most Surreal Moment of My Life'

Scientists capture footage of black-naped pheasant-pigeon for first time since 1882

(Newser) - The researchers had to gun it in their boat to outrun pirates after departing Fergusson Island off of Papua New Guinea. But as the BBC tells it, the likely adrenaline rush that produced may have been dwarfed by the one they experienced on the island itself. The eight-person team in...

Giant Tortoise Presumed Extinct for a Century Is Very Much Alive

Fernanda is first fantastic giant tortoise seen in Galapagos since 1906, and only the 2nd ever

(Newser) - A Galapagos giant tortoise species observed only once more than a century ago on a remote volcanic island and thought to have gone extinct as a result of volcanic eruptions has turned up very much alive. A female "fantastic giant tortoise," which the Guardian reports is "significantly...

Most Americans Don't Want a Real-Life Jurassic Park

Majority are against bringing dinosaurs back from extinction, if that were an option, per YouGov poll

(Newser) - If you've ever fantasized about a world in which T. rex once more roamed the Earth, you're in a small minority. YouGov recently surveyed 2,000 American adults on how they felt about helping save endangered species, or even bringing back extinct ones, and the majority answered that...

For 23 Endangered Species, All Hope Is Now Gone

Ivory-billed woodpecker, nearly 2 dozen other species have been declared extinct by US

(Newser) - Wednesday is set to be a sad day for nearly two dozen endangered species, with all hope gone that we'll ever see them again. Federal wildlife authorities are expected to announce that the ivory-billed woodpecker, Bachman's warbler, and 20 other animals, as well as one plant, are now...

World's Only 2 Northern White Rhinos May Not Be the Last

Scientists have created 'test tube rhino' embryos in hopes of saving the species

(Newser) - There are only two female northern white rhinos left in the world (the lone male, Sudan, died in March ), and they're infertile, but researchers are hoping new efforts on the reproduction front will stave off the end of the species. The world's first "test tube" rhinos...

Next Mass Extinction Looms
 Next Mass Extinction Looms 
study says

Next Mass Extinction Looms

But it's in early stages, so there is hope, new paper says

(Newser) - Some conservationists have been using the term "the sixth extinction" for a few years now—referring to the possibility that more than 75% of existing species could disappear for the sixth time in the planet's history—but there's been little factual proof to back up the frightening prediction. Until...

How Birds, Crocs Escaped Prehistoric Extinction

One-way breathing pattern points to common ancestor

(Newser) - In the midst of the planet's worst-ever wave of extinction some 250 million years ago, the ancestors of birds and alligators managed to survive thanks to a shared breathing mechanism that enabled them to weather low oxygen levels. New research shows that when birds and alligators breathe, air flows in...

Comet Crash Created Diamonds, Death

'Nanodiamond' discovery points to species-destroying collision 13,000 years ago

(Newser) - Newly discovered microscopic diamonds suggest that a comet crashed into North America 13,000 years ago, triggering devastating floods and fires that killed 35 species and wiped out human communities, reports the Los Angeles Times. Layers of "nanodiamonds," found in a number of regions in the country, were...

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