A new study has discovered that vegetation not only emits Oxygen, but methane as well. It has long been thought that rotting vegetation on the forest floor was the main source of methane plumes measured coming from rainforests, but new studies have confirmed that living plants actually emit Methane.

This will have a major impact on the Kyoto protocol because part of the agreement states that participating countries can plant forests in lieu of reducing CO₂ emissions. Since Methane is more damaging than Carbon Dioxide, it might not make too much sense to plant more trees if the methane they produce outweighs the benefits of the CO₂ they would absorb.

Even more importantly, plants increase their methane output as the temperature rises. This of course would just accelerate the Global Warming cycle as the trend continued.

A recent Study published in the journal Nature suggests that there is concrete eveidence showing the linkage between global climate change the conditions needed for a pathogenic fungus to thrive. The increased presence of the fungus led to widespread extinctions of harlequin frogs in the middle elevations of mountainous regions in South and Central America.

Andrew Blaustien, a professor of zoology at Oregon State University is quoted in one of Nature's commentary articles. He stated that these extinctions are yet another example of the far-reaching systemic impact in our world-wide ecosystem caused by climate change. Although the amphibious extinction only apply to the a certain kind of frog with specialized habitats, they are a good example of how a species can handle challenges presented by a changing environment.

Until more resaearch focuses on pathogens, parasites and other types of disease transmission and their link to our warming climate, we will not be able to fully understand the full impact of climate change and it's effect on the global biodiversity.

More examples were cited. From nematodes that affect the mortality rate of musk oxen to the shortened life span of a pine beetle aiding in the spread of a fungus that they carry, the changes in the disrupted cycle are becoming more poignant and easier to point out.

So how does this affect you and me? One great example is the spread of Dengue Fever, a dangerous human pathogen and a distant cousin of Marburg and Ebola. Warming treands have increased the spread of Dengue out of it's typically tropical environment, to typically cooler temperature zones. As temperatue rise, Dengue is slowly migrating Northward into the Southern United States, and similar trends are being recorded in Northern Australia where Dengue is moving South.

"This new study is a breakthrough, and the powerful synergy between pathogen transmission and climate change should give us cause for concern about human health in a warmer world", said Blaustein.