Last week I briefly mentioned some stark estimates about the potential extinctions that could be triggered by global warming. Since then, some global warming skeptics have tried to pour cold water on these results by making some dubious claims about natural selection and extinctions. While I have reported about global warming from time to time, I leave blogging on the subject to others (particularly David Appell over at Quark Soup). But in this case, evolution is drawn into the mix.

Here, in a nutshell, is what the scientists wrote last week in their Nature paper (which the editors have made available for free). They studied over 1,000 species in all sorts of terrestrial habitats, from Mexican deserts to