Climate Change & Frogs
Frogs have been disappearing at alarming rates in recent decades. While habitat destruction is the major cause of frog extinctions in lowland areas, climate change poses a serious threat to frogs in mountainous regions. Frogs need moist climates to reproduce, and this makes them extremely sensitive to changes in climate. Unlike reptiles or birds, which have hard-shelled eggs, frogs have jelly-like, unshelled eggs that cannot survive dry conditions. In upland areas of the tropics, many frogs live in cloud forests and lay their eggs in the moist leaf-litter. As the eggs are laid away from water bodies, the embryos bypass the aquatic tadpole stage and hatch directly into tiny froglets. These ‘direct-developing’ species are under serious threat from global warming, which acts to raise the cloud levels. As the clouds rise, the frogs at the newly-exposed lower elevations lose their habitat (and their lives) as the soil dries. Some frog species live in only a single mountain range, or even on a single mountain, so when problems arise the entire species can easily go extinct.
Climate change is also affecting frog populations outside the tropics. Pond-breeding species are dependent on water bodies that do not dry up before their tadpoles can metamorphose. In Yellowstone National Park, the world’s oldest protected area, droughts have been increasing over the last 50 years, and 25% of the ponds that existed in the early 1990’s no longer fill with water. It is not surprising that three of the four species are now declining in numbers. If climate change is already affecting Yellowstone’s wildlife, it is safe to assume that it is having an even more significant effect elsewhere in the world, where habitat destruction, pollution and other environmental problems are likely to compound matters.
While it is important that our elected leaders take action to prevent further climate change, we as individuals are just as responsible for taking action in our own lives. Below are simple ways you can reduce your carbon footprint and help save the frogs…and yourself!
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What Our Supporters Say
“Dear Dr. Kerry, I am Rebecca Berger, writing on behalf of ClimArts, a UK-based non-profit organization. Our mission is to drive climate action through the power of storytelling, combining scientific knowledge with creative arts to communicate research insights, climate solutions, and future visions. I have been deeply inspired by your expertise in conservation and contribution to the climate space through SAVE THE FROGS!. Your ability to articulate complex environmental themes combined with your musical background is a testament to the immense potential of our shared fields.”
“I am a climate lobbyist. Right now we have a Carbon Fee and Dividend bill finally introduced into the 116th Congress HR 763, The Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act. It puts a steadily rising price on CO2 and returns the dividend in equal shares to all residents in the U.S. with a SS#. It’s so very important to know and talk about and support this foundational step in pricing carbon and driving the transition to renewable energy. This bill is foundational to the GND as well. And of course I LOVE FROGS beyond measure, so much of what I do is inspired by that love for them and for the work that you do. A dream of mine is that I don’t get too old to accompany you on one of your many frog habitat restoration projects somewhere in the world. I’m pushing 72 but I’m hanging on to that dream. Thank you!”
My Ponds Are Drying Up: Poster Sighted In Chicago O’Hare International Airport
SAVE THE FROGS! Supporter Karen Marie Manasco photographed this poster of ours in Chicago O’Hare International Airport. The poster was up for years, and hundreds of thousands of travelers passed in front of it.
