By Seth Borenstein, AP Science Writer | November 21, 2006

WASHINGTON — Animal and plant species have begun dying off or changing sooner than predicted because of global warming, a review of hundreds of research studies contends.

These fast-moving adaptations come as a surprise even to biologists and ecologists because they are occurring so rapidly.

At least 70 species of frogs, mostly mountain-dwellers that had nowhere to go to escape the creeping heat, have gone extinct because of climate change, the analysis says. It also reports that between 100 and 200 other cold-dependent animal species, such as penguins and polar bears are in deep trouble.

“We are finally seeing species going extinct,” said University of Texas biologist Camille Parmesan, author of the study. “Now we’ve got the evidence. It’s here. It’s real. This is not just biologists’ intuition. It’s what’s happening.”

Read the rest of Borenstein’s article about the findings of Camille Parmesan’s study.

We are not powerless to reverse the effects or at least the momentum of global warming, but we must act soon, or it may be too late. We means all of us, all of us acting in concert, which means all of us as represented by a government of, by, and for the people. We must not ignore the evidence, downplay the threat, stall for time. We have to act now and acting now requires that we admit there is a problem, a crisis.

We can take baby steps as individuals, to reduce our “carbon footprint,” to offset our contribution to atmospheric greenhouse gases by investing in carbon-reduction technologies, but only acting together can we make reasonable headway to slow the momentum of global warming, only if our national leaders take it seriously and take action.

Too many of God’s creatures are already paying the price for our inaction …