Research studies have shown that frogs, whose toxins are used for medicine, are threatened by climate change, the long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns.
There are 112 native frog species in the Philippines, 88 percent found only in the country, many of them in limited areas, like the Gigantes limestone frog found only in the rocky forests and caves of Gigantes islands in Iloilo.
The shifts in temperature can be natural, due to changes in the sun’s activity or large volcanic eruptions, although human activities have been observed as the main driver of climate change, primarily due to the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas.
But climate change is greatly impacting the frog population in the Philippines, with studies showing a large percentage of Philippine frog species are considered vulnerable to shifts in weather due to factors like altered temperature and precipitation patterns, which can disrupt their habitats and life cycles.
Research indicates that many species are classified as highly vulnerable or moderately vulnerable to climate change impacts.
Burning fossil fuels generates greenhouse gas emissions that act like a blanket wrapped around the Earth, trapping the sun’s heat and raising temperatures.
The main greenhouse gases causing climate change include carbon dioxide and methane, which come from using gasoline for driving a car or coal for heating a building, for example.
Clearing land and cutting down forests can also release carbon dioxide. Agriculture, oil and gas operations are major sources of methane emissions.
Energy, industry, transport, buildings, agriculture and land use are among the main sectors causing greenhouse gases.
These have affected frogs, which are often chosen to be dissected since their bodies provide a good overview of the organ systems of a complex living thing, according to experts.
The organs present in a frog, and the way they are laid out in the body, are, according to batrachiologists and medical practitioners, similar enough to humans to provide an insight for students how their bodies work.
As drought is often accompanied by intense heat, frogs and salamanders on land may find themselves overheating and drying out, resulting in their death, with experts suggesting unusual weather patterns can signal to amphibians to breed earlier than normal, leaving their eggs vulnerable to lethal freezes.
But it is reassuring that governments and other organizations are taking steps to protect frogs from climate change, which include providing habitat management and conservation planning.
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