More than half of Europe’s amphibians could be extinct by 2050, British researchers warned in a new report. Blaming climate change, habitat destruction, and disease, scientists from the Zoological Society
of London said more than 40 species of frogs, toads, and newts are in danger of being wiped out. Amphibians in fast-warming Italy and Iberia are most vulnerable, they said, because seas and mountains block the animals’ retreat to cooler, wetter areas. Birds, fish, and snakes that feed on amphibians are also in decline. Looking down the food chain, scientists predict an increase in insects as their amphibious predators die out. Worldwide, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature lists one-third of amphibians as endangered; by some estimates, 150 species have already disappeared in recent decades.
The Guardian