Embarrassed by the stubborn refusal of polar bears to die out, or even to appear convincingly rare, climate scientists are touting a new poster child species for our collective climate guilt – the white lemuroid ringtail possum.
The possum is restricted to just one mountain range in tropical Australia. Previously numbered in the thousands, the species was almost wiped out by a heatwave in 2005.
“I think this really should be a wake-up call,” tropical rainforests expert and James Cook University researcher Professor Bill Laurance told AAP.
“We’re arguing this is a better icon for global warming than a polar bear because it typifies the type of biodiversity we will lose in the future.”
JUST four white lemuroid ringtail possums have been found in the wild and scientists say the species could soon become the first creature to be wiped out by global warming.
Source: https://au.news.yahoo.com/a/24520231/possum-a-polar-bear-of-climate-change/
h/t to Eric Worrall
However, it may be down, but not out, from 2009:
Reports of white lemuroid ringtail possum’s extinction premature
A RARE possum said to be the first Australian species wiped out by global warming appears to be clinging to survival, if still vulnerable, in north Queensland’s tropical rainforest.
Last year, the white lemuroid ringtail possum was reported to have vanished from high-altitude rainforests in north Queensland. It was the first Australian mammal extinction attributed to climate change.
The white possums are native to the mountains that surround Port Douglas and Cairns. When news of their apparent demise was reported, rising temperatures and global warming were blamed.
mjc July 22, 2014 at 12:42 pm
I haven’t been able to find anything that states, definitively, that the white ones are any different than the brown ones…other than color. So if they aren’t a separate species and the brown ones are not ‘wiped out’ then what is all the fuss about?
The connection is clear, my dear Watson: They are Snow Possoms; why else would they be white!
I got that number for the Cretaceous ocean temperatures 15 to 20 °C (27 to 36 °F) higher than today from the wikipedia, but Willis’ examination of the Argo floats data show the oceans top out in the tropics at 31 °C. That’s the ceiling. They don’t get hotter.
I doubt those Wiki numbers are any good.
Balls to the climate lobby. Possums are delicious. Get your pan out and get stuck in.
http://www.tngenweb.org/tntable/possum.htm
I had been worried about the prospects for survival of the white lemuroid ringtail possum, but now that the Warmistas are claiming that it is a victim of Global Warming (like the Polar Bear), I have renewed hopes that the white lemuroid ringtail possum will be OK and soon prosper.
If these critters survived the MWP, then something other than a warmer climate is their undoing. What is the proof that a warmer climate is killing them off? Oh, oh, oh, I know, somebody threw one into a hot oven and it died. Therefore a slight increase in temp. will kill all white lemuroid ringtail possums. OK, I see now!
Lea says:
I agree with you Lea. I loathe the things. We’ve lived with them invading our houses in various parts of Melbourne and country Victoria. Dirty, smelly and noisy…Yuk!
Yes. They need mascots. Especially ones that can be made to appear cute and cuddly. Because it’s all about the emotionalism with the Warmists. In fact, Warmism is about as far from true science as you can get.
Rud Istvan says:
July 22, 2014 at 3:06 pm
Yep – third time being recycled. I somehow doubt that the habitat has been properly surveyed. Very difficult terrain some of it. Too hot in 2005? Generally the temperatures up here have been lower, in line with the pause/slight decline. This winter has actually been a real one rather than a novelty. Frost at some of those elevations.
Sub-species of a creature that up here will cheerfully camp in your uninsulated roof space? 40+°C? Only moves on if you install a light?
Well white for critters in the tropics, is the preferred “comeandeatme” color.
White American alligators are mince meat in the wild too. They usually have to be captured, and palmed off to zoos, in order to survive. We have one in San Francisco.
If those white megarats escape to NZ, they will do well; but look much prettier squished on the road, than the brown ones.
Either one has spectacularly lush fur. Make good coats, or sweaters.
It’s called evolution. Charles Darwin wrote a book about it. I’m not sure if it’s called “Adapt or Die.” but if not, that would be a good sub title.
g
Possums are just big rats, or squirrels without fur on their tail.
give some to New Zealand they like our possums
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Fewer dingos?
Robert of Ottawa says:
July 22, 2014 at 3:44 pm
The connection is clear, my dear Watson: They are Snow Possoms; why else would they be white!
——————————————————————————————————————————-
There is the problem right there. There is only snow in Australia for about 4 months of the the year. They obviously have a real problem during the other 8 months …
The lunatics are running the prison planet.
These white things have a very restricted range? How is what happens to them an indication of anything global?
papiertigre says:
July 22, 2014 at 2:25 pm
Great observations about ‘possums. A big, fat one lived under my garden shed for years. He grew unconcerned with my presence after I caught and petted him a few times- their fur is so irresistibly soft. He took afternoon siestas in the low branches of a tree in the yard and we got along just fine.
“””””…….mjc says:
July 22, 2014 at 3:04 pm
” GeologyJim says:
July 22, 2014 at 2:55 pm
Not claiming this source is comprehensive or unbiased, but here’s Wikipedia’s list of 20th-21st century extinctions:……”””””
Well Hooey on that Wiki list.
They missed the New Zealand Huia, which went extinct early 1900s; probably due to ornithologists killing them for museum specimens. Oodles of extinct birds in museum specimen drawers.
The Huia was considered unique, in that the male and female have totally different beaks, for exploiting totally different food sources. One long and curved, for getting to the nectar in the Kowhai flowers and the like. The other more robust for eating berries, and presumably insects.
The male was the source of the distinctive white tipped tail feathers used for the Korowhai (maybe …wai) ceremonial cloak.). The Tui persists, but is but a shadow of the Huia. Both have tufted throats.
Well as near as I can recall, anyway.
Nice job ornithovandals.
these climate cult members need to check their white privilege…
I thought the black swan was the first species wiped out by Global Warming…..
This same story was bandied about in the year 2000, while I was down there for the Olympics. There were a lot of other reasons given at that time — nothing to do with climate change.
Australia and NZ had many flightless birds that became extinct when the Europeans imported animals to take care of some of the pests, unfortunately the flightless birds were easier to catch and tasted better too!
An interesting account of the lemuroid ringtail possum from UMICH.
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Hemibelideus_lemuroides/
Some telling information in the Habitat and Conservation Status sections:
“Furthermore, lemuroid ringtail possums are found only in mature forests, not secondary or regrowth forests. …Lemuroid ringtail possum populations decreased by 97% in secondary forests compared to primary. …Any threat to their primary forest habitats will severely threaten their populations.”
Utter crap.
They at cook know that introduced vermin in the form of cats, foxes and domestic dogs just to name a few are the things that are are wiping out our native mammals.
As somebody else here pointed out it was hotter back in the 1800’s and they didn’t have a problem then.
Birds were witnessed to be falling out of trees because of the heat in one particular heat wave.
And l”ll hazard a guess that it had been a damned sight warmer than that through history and they got through that as well.
But along comes another global warming fraudster and thinks there might be a buck in it plus a little propoganda for the fraud.
So Prof. Lowrance shouts, abrekadabra and Australia has its own “ring tailed polar bear” dropping out of the trees..
Somebody needs to call this fraudster out now before it starts costing us.
If they die out it won’t be because of global warming or at the minute, lack of.
It will be because of lazy governments and alarmists like Prof. Lowarances failure to address the ever growing problem of introduced predators taking advantage of the easy meals our natives are.
vukcevic says:
July 22, 2014 at 2:42 pm
Read her PhD thesis – you may not be quite so disparaging.
http://www.diss.fu-berlin.de/diss/receive/FUDISS_thesis_000000036254
being familiar with aussie possums, i’m sure it will survive.
however, what is EXTINCT is our carbon tax/ETS, after a battle which saw off two Prime Ministers and a Leader of the Opposition. Nature is not happy, but they can’t spoil our celebrations, no matter how much they lie:
22 July: Nature: Quirin Schiermeier: Anger as Australia dumps carbon tax
Climate experts decry demise of emissions-control system
Australia’s pioneering carbon-pricing mechanism has failed to survive its infancy. In a major victory for Prime Minister Tony Abbott, parliament agreed on 17 July to axe the scheme with immediate effect…
The move has disappointed many researchers. “This is a big setback for Australia’s climate policy,” says Frank Jotzo, a climate economist at the Australian National University in Canberra…
But critics say that the scheme has vastly increased consumer electricity prices…
But Australia’s U-turns on the carbon tax and other climate policies may discourage other nations from being as ambitious as they might have been, says Elliot Diringer, executive vice-president of the US Center for Climate and Energy Solutions in Arlington, Virginia. “Australia’s decision underscores the vagaries of domestic policy-making,” he says. “It saps rather than strengthens the global momentum — but it will not deter a global climate agreement in 2015.”…
PLUS Karoly, etc…
http://www.nature.com/news/anger-as-australia-dumps-carbon-tax-1.15601
22 July: Nature Editorial: The wrong kind of carbon cut
The repeal of Australia’s carbon-pricing scheme — the first time a nation has reversed action on climate change — sets a worrying example for other countries mulling steps to reduce emissions.
So how much does Australia’s decision to scrap its carbon-pricing scheme after just two years matter? As we report on page 392, the move was expected and may not directly affect the odds of reaching a meaningful international agreement in 2015 — but it does threaten to undermine the political momentum that has been building up and that must be sustained if the world is to get its act together on the key environmental issue of our time.
A growing body of research indicates that parts of Australia, already plagued by frequent heat, drought and floods, are excessively vulnerable to climate change and its effect on extreme weather….
So are carbon taxes and emissions-trading schemes doomed? Certainly not…
Australia’s decision highlights the crude reality that political decision-making does not necessarily follow the logics of science and economics…
Australia, one of the world’s richest countries and a leading per capita carbon emitter, must do more to reassure the rest of the world that it is ready to join global efforts to tackle climate change. If it does not, it would send a devastating signal to rising economies such as China that will play a key part in negotiations leading up to an international climate agreement. These nations must be involved in global climate action, but they will hardly be persuaded to sign up if an industrial power the size of Australia falters…
Abbott has won a political battle at home — but to be taken seriously abroad, he must show that he wants to serve his nation more than he wants to appease the fossil-fuel industry.
http://www.nature.com/news/the-wrong-kind-of-carbon-cut-1.15595
Two thoughts:
1. How soft and thick is that white fur?
2. Can they be bred in captivity if that fur is soft and thick?
3. Is the meat any good?
If they are like Willamette Valley possum they breed like cats, thus can produce a lot of furry offspring. If the skins are any good, this seems like a good business opportunity.