Die Geological Society of Australia (GSA) hat nach langem Anlauf den Versuch abgebrochen, ein gemeinschaftliches Klimagrundsatzpapier zum Klimawandel zu erstellen. Die Präsidentin der Vereingigung erklärte, der Konsensversuch würde in der GSA zu viel Uneinigkeit stiften und die gute Zusammenarbeit in der Geologischen Vereinigung bedrohen. The Australian berichtete am 4. Juni 2014:
After more than five years of debate and two false starts, Geological Society of Australia president Laurie Hutton said a statement on climate change was too difficult to achieve. Mr Hutton said the issue “had the potential to be too divisive and would not serve the best interests of the society as a whole.” The backdown, published in the GSA quarterly newsletter, is the culmination of two rejected position statements and years of furious correspondence among members. Some members believe the failure to make a strong statement on climate change is an embarrassment that puts Australian earth scientists at odds with their international peers. It undermines the often cited stance that there is near unanimity among climate scientists on the issue.
Den vielbeschworenen angeblichen Konsens unter Geowissenschaftlern zum Klimawandel gibt es nicht, wie dieser Vorfall erneut eindrucksvoll unter Beweis stellt.
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Am 28. Mai 2014 gab die dänische Universität Aarhus eine interessante Pressemitteilung heraus: Die großen Säugetiere sind in der letzten Eiszeit nicht etwa wegen des Klimawandels, sondern durch die menschliche Jagd ausgestorben:
Climate not to blame for the disappearance of large mammals
A new study unequivocally points to humans as the cause of the mass extinction of large animals all over the world during the course of the last 100,000 years.
Was it mankind or climate change that caused the extinction of a considerable number of large mammals about the time of the last Ice Age? Researchers at Aarhus University have carried out the first global analysis of the extinction of the large animals, and the conclusion is clear – humans are to blame.
“Our results strongly underline the fact that human expansion throughout the world has meant an enormous loss of large animals,” says Postdoctoral Fellow Søren Faurby, Aarhus University.
Was it due to climate change?
For almost 50 years, scientists have been discussing what led to the mass extinction of large animals (also known as megafauna) during and immediately after the last Ice Age.
One of two leading theories states that the large animals became extinct as a result of climate change. There were significant climate changes, especially towards the end of the last Ice Age – just as there had been during previous Ice Ages – and this meant that many species no longer had the potential to find suitable habitats and they died out as a result. However, because the last Ice Age was just one in a long series of Ice Ages, it is puzzling that a corresponding extinction of large animals did not take place during the earlier ones.
Theory of overkill
The other theory concerning the extinction of the animals is ‘overkill’. Modern man spread from Africa to all parts of the world during the course of a little more than the last 100,000 years. In simple terms, the overkill hypothesis states that modern man exterminated many of the large animal species on arrival in the new continents. This was either because their populations could not withstand human hunting, or for indirect reasons such as the loss of their prey, which were also hunted by humans.
First global mapping
In their study, the researchers produced the first global analysis and relatively fine-grained mapping of all the large mammals (with a body weight of at least 10 kg) that existed during the period 132,000–1,000 years ago – the period during which the extinction in question took place. They were thus able to study the geographical variation in the percentage of large species that became extinct on a much finer scale than previously achieved.
The researchers found that a total of 177 species of large mammals disappeared during this period – a massive loss. Africa ‘only’ lost 18 species and Europe 19, while Asia lost 38 species, Australia and the surrounding area 26, North America 43 and South America a total of 62 species of large mammals.
The extinction of the large animals took place in virtually all climate zones and affected cold-adapted species such as woolly mammoths, temperate species such as forest elephants and giant deer, and tropical species such as giant cape buffalo and some giant sloths. It was observed on virtually every continent, although a particularly large number of animals became extinct in North and South America, where species including sabre-toothed cats, mastodons, giant sloths and giant armadillos disappeared, and in Australia, which lost animals such as giant kangaroos, giant wombats and marsupial lions. There were also fairly large losses in Europe and Asia, including a number of elephants, rhinoceroses and giant deer.
Weak climate effect
The results show that the correlation between climate change – i.e. the variation in temperature and precipitation between glacials and interglacials – and the loss of megafauna is weak, and can only be seen in one sub-region, namely Eurasia (Europe and Asia). “The significant loss of megafauna all over the world can therefore not be explained by climate change, even though it has definitely played a role as a driving force in changing the distribution of some species of animals. Reindeer and polar foxes were found in Central Europe during the Ice Age, for example, but they withdrew northwards as the climate became warmer,” says Postdoctoral Fellow Christopher Sandom, Aarhus University.
Extinction linked to humans
On the other hand, the results show a very strong correlation between the extinction and the history of human expansion. “We consistently find very large rates of extinction in areas where there had been no contact between wildlife and primitive human races, and which were suddenly confronted by fully developed modern humans (Homo sapiens). In general, at least 30% of the large species of animals disappeared from all such areas,” says Professor Jens-Christian Svenning, Aarhus University.
The researchers’ geographical analysis thereby points very strongly at humans as the cause of the loss of most of the large animals.
The results also draw a straight line from the prehistoric extinction of large animals via the historical regional or global extermination due to hunting (American bison, European bison, quagga, Eurasian wild horse or tarpan, and many others) to the current critical situation for a considerable number of large animals as a result of poaching and hunting (e.g. the rhino poaching epidemic).
The results have just been published in the article Global late Quaternary megafauna extinctions linked to humans, not climate change in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
Die Berliner Morgenpost griff das Thema am 5. Juni 2014 auf:
Der Mensch lässt mehr Tierarten aussterben als der Klimawandel
Das Aussterben großer Säugetiere in den vergangenen 130.000 Jahren geht auf das Konto des Menschen. Klimaveränderungen spielten – wenn überhaupt – allenfalls in manchen Regionen eine untergeordnete Rolle, wie dänische Forscher um Christopher Sandom von der Universität Aarhus in den „Proceedings B“ der britischen Royal Society berichten. Zahlreiche Fossilienfunde dokumentieren, dass während der vergangenen gut 130.000 Jahre viele große Säugetiere verschwanden. Seit Jahren streiten Forscher über die Ursache. Diskutiert wird vor allem, ob Klimaveränderungen oder die Ausbreitung des Homo sapiens die Tiere aussterben ließen. Dies prüften die Forscher, indem sie für Regionen und Länder das Verschwinden von Säugetieren ab einem Gewicht von zehn Kilogramm mit den Klimaveränderungen in den einzelnen Gebieten abglichen. Als Zeitraum wählten sie die Phase von vor 132.000 bis vor 1000 Jahren, als Klimaveränderungen werteten sie Schwankungen von Temperatur, Niederschlägen und das Tempo der Veränderungen.Weiterlesen in der Berliner Morgenpost.
Mit Dank an WUWT.
