Another day, another environmental lie...
Environmental charities are exaggerating the threat of climate change in an attempt to raise more money from public donations, according to a report by Oxford University academics.
The red kite is said to be at risk but the Oxford report says it is not facing imminent extinction
The charities, including WWF-UK, the world's biggest independent conservation organisation, claim that a quarter of the world's species are facing extinction by 2050.
However, the report says that this is a "woeful misrepresentation of the underlying science".
Many species said to be at risk - including the red kite and the Scottish crossbill - are not facing imminent extinction, according to the report by four academics from the biodiversity research group at Oxford's school of geography and the environment.
Other British birds such as the crested tit and the spotless starling, and plants including the king protea, the national flower of South Africa, were also safe.
The report says: "It might serve the interests of particular actors in the chain to 'sex-up' the story by linking climate change with the imminent threat of massive extinctions and jump on the resulting bandwagon.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/05/02/ngreen02.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/05/02/ixhome.html
Environmental charities are exaggerating the threat of climate change in an attempt to raise more money from public donations, according to a report by Oxford University academics.
The red kite is said to be at risk but the Oxford report says it is not facing imminent extinction
The charities, including WWF-UK, the world's biggest independent conservation organisation, claim that a quarter of the world's species are facing extinction by 2050.
However, the report says that this is a "woeful misrepresentation of the underlying science".
Many species said to be at risk - including the red kite and the Scottish crossbill - are not facing imminent extinction, according to the report by four academics from the biodiversity research group at Oxford's school of geography and the environment.
Other British birds such as the crested tit and the spotless starling, and plants including the king protea, the national flower of South Africa, were also safe.
The report says: "It might serve the interests of particular actors in the chain to 'sex-up' the story by linking climate change with the imminent threat of massive extinctions and jump on the resulting bandwagon.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/05/02/ngreen02.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/05/02/ixhome.html
