VirusType2
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National Geographic said:
“Frogs are often referred to as a barometer or a bellwether because they live both in water and on land, so they are vulnerable to or affected by both environments,” Argo said. “At the same time, amphibians have been on the planet for 360 million years, and as one of the scientists in my film put it, they are tough customers. So you can say they are sensitive to all these environmental pressures, but its not just a light environmental pressure on them, they are just getting everything heaped on them at once, and that seems to be why we are losing them.”
When climates change, and drought happens, breeding ponds and creek beds dry up. Frogs, who breathe air and drink water through their skin, are very sensitive to contaminated water supplies. The last straw, it seems, is the deadly (to frogs, not humans) chytrid fungus that has spread all over the world
"Low frog populations wreak havoc on food chains; fish love tadpoles and everything from small birds to large-land carnivores eat frogs. But the loss is even greater in scope: some species of frogs produce chemicals in their skin that could hold the cures for major diseases; Argo said a new, more powerful and nonaddictive alternative to morphine was recently developed based on chemicals produced by these frogs. Other mysterious creatures, including the Boreal Chorus Frog found in Jackson Hole that actually freezes solid during the winter and thaws back to life in the spring, have capabilities that are still not completely understood by scientists."
BTW I saw that frog freeze for winter then thaw out on a National Geographic special of Alaska. Simply amazing. It's blood produces a sugar of some sort that prevents it's vital organs from freezing.
Fungus epidemic
Global warming
Destruction of habitat
Water and Air Pollution
Fwoggies
