**10.4 Wildlife**

208 Fossil Fuel and the Environment

The author personally noticed significantly increased density of rainforests in Malaysia during the period 1975 - 2002. In the period of 1975-78 in the area of Tanah Rata, Cameron Highlands, it was noticed it was mostly possible to walk upright around in the rainforests without being significantly obstructed by the undergrowth. Paths in the forests frequented by people were relatively clear, allowing people to walk upright with little obstruction.

In 2002, in the same Tanah Rata region, it was found that the same natural rainforests had become significantly more dense. It had become much more difficult to walk around in the rainforests, because of obstruction from the undergrowth and vines. It was observed that passages in the forests had become more of tunnels allowing crouching and crawling through the undergrowth, crouching and crawling, rather than upright walking, through

This expected increasing density of forests over the last few decades has also been observed by the author in the Sedona area of Arizona in 2012. This area has also been the backdrop of movie Westerns from close to 50 years ago, which form a basis of comparison for the

One reason often cited for the increased forest densities is global warming. Plants are known to thrive with a number of factors, such as increased rainfall, humidity, higher temperatures and increased carbon dioxide. Freezing temperatures are known to kill off the plants,

Gobal warming should cause shifts of vegetation and forestation patterns away from the equator to the poles as shown below (Figure 10). This changing patterns of vegetation and

> North Pole

Equator

South Pole

Fig. 10. Expected migration of vegetation and marine life, if global warming were the cause.

Vegetation densities have increased as expected, whereas marine life has declined

**10.2 Global warming as cause of increased density of forests** 

**10.1 Malaysia, 1975 - 2002** 

the undergrowth.

dramatically.

vegetation densities we see today.

allowing mainly coniferous plants to thrive.

forests has generally been observed.

The global decline in wildlife over the last few decades is largely attributed to loss of habitat such as rainforests, and the encroachment of man. The decrease in wildlife has also been attributed to the pollutants and contaminants introduced into the atmosphere. **The large decline in the numbers predatory birds such as eagles and hawks was first indicated in the study some decades ago, where DDT introduced into the food chain was found to have been the cause.** Owing to a lack of other explanations, the huge decline of birds today could be attributed to their great sensitivity to toxins in the environment.

Also sensitive to environmental toxins are amphibians such as frogs. About a decade ago, mutations in frogs causing extra limbs were found to be have increased alarmingly. Pollutants and contaminants were cited as the reason for these mutations.

Animals such as bison, elephants, etc. deal with depleting grasses/vegetation and annual weather patterns by migrating over large geographic distances. The artificial fences crisscrossing our continents could be another reason for the large decline in wildlife populations.
