CBS News
Too hot for a lizard? Climate change quickens the pace of extinction
BISBEE, Ariz. — Boots dusty, lungs heaving, Dr. John Wiens searched the boulders of a desolate Arizona mountaintop for the last survivors of a 3-million-year-old lizard population — then said the words that both confirmed his life’s work and broke his heart.
“They’re not there,” he said. “It seems like the species is now extinct.”
Chance Horner / CBS News
The loss of plant and animal species on Earth is happening at a speed never seen in human history, according to the United Nations. That includes the likely extinction of the lizards Wiens has studied for 10 years — the population of Yarrow’s spiny lizards found in the Mule Mountains of southern Arizona.
“There’s a lot of species on Earth, and we’re going to lose a lot of them because of climate change,” said Weins, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Arizona. “It’s catastrophic.”
Riding the elevator to extinction
Over the last 3 million years — a million years longer than humans have been around — the Yarrow’s spiny lizards in the Mules adapted to live in cool mountain climates called sky islands.
Because the desert floor below is too hot, the lizards were essentially marooned at higher elevations, as if on an island, and cut off from other Yarrow’s populations in southern Arizona and northern Mexico.
These lizards were also easy to find in the wild, unlike many other species. They would often sun themselves on large rock outcroppings. That behavior allowed Wiens and his colleagues to regularly count their population to see how they were affected by a warming climate.
In 2014, the team could not find any lizards below 5,700 feet. Up to that elevation the temperature in the mountains had gotten too hot. In 2021-22, they returned to the Mules to count lizards in the same spot. They were gone.
“They’re dying at lower elevations,” he said.
At that point, the lizards could only be found living much higher, at 7,100 feet, a cooler elevation. In a scientific paper, Wiens and his colleagues calculated the rate at which the lizards were dying, concluding that it is among the fastest rates ever recorded.
But because the highest peak in the Mules is 7,700 feet, the Yarrow’s spiny lizards were quickly running out of elevations with cooler air. Based on its calculated rate of decline, and with nowhere else to go, Wiens projected the lizards would go extinct here by 2025 — a phenomenon that scientists call riding the “elevator to extinction.”
In March of this year, a survey trip into the mountains with CBS News proved his hypothesis correct, one year ahead of schedule. Wiens could no longer find any lizards, though it will take several more trips before rendering a conclusion.
“It seems like the species is now extinct, this distinct lineage that’s been separated for about 3 million years,” he said. “This is what the future is going to look like. This is climate-related extinction.”
According to Krista Kemppinen, a senior scientist with the Center for Biological Diversity, who did not participate in Wiens’ research, the implications are dire for other species in the Sonoran Desert, where the Mules are located, as they may already be at the upper threshold of how much heat they can tolerate.
“The region is really like a ticking time bomb when it comes to climate change,” she said.
Humans “have some responsibility for this”
According to an exhaustive 2019 U.N. report, 1 million plant and animal species are threatened with extinction around the globe.
Wiens concluded the number is likely far higher in a more recent research paper, he published in Global Change Biology. He estimates that 3 to 6 million species will be threatened with extinction in the next 50 years, driven heavily by climate change, which will make it too warm for many species to survive.
“As human beings, in the developed world, we all sort of have some responsibility for this,” Wiens said.
While the distinct 3-million-year-old population of Yarrow’s lizard species is presumed extinct in the Mule Mountains, its distant relatives still exist in other mountainous locations in Arizona and Mexico — though many are also in decline.
Still, across the country, 1,700 plants and animals are listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act, which provides resources to help protect the species and their habitat.
The act is widely viewed as an environmental success story. Some high-profile species on the list include:
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The California condor, the largest flying bird in the U.S., with about 90 adults remaining in the wild.
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The iconic Florida panther, with about 200 animals remaining.
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The massive North Atlantic right whale, which roams the Atlantic Ocean; all that’s left are 250 individuals.
Still, the Endangered Species Act only covers a fraction of the species at risk, in part because the process of listing a species can be long, bureaucratic and political.
“It can take on average 12 years, when legally it should only take two,” Kemppinen said.
Not enough time for the Yarrow’s spiny lizards of the Mule Mountains.
Paul Teal, an actor known for his recurring role on the TV series “One Tree Hill,” died on Friday after a battle with cancer, a representative for Teal confirmed to CBS News.
“His remarkable talent, along with his gentle spirit, has left an indelible mark on all of us fortunate enough to have known him,” Susan Tolar Walters of STW Talent Agency said in a statement on Monday. “The loss we feel in our hearts is immeasurable.”
The actor’s fiancée, Emilia Torello, shared a tribute to Teal in a Sunday Instagram post, calling him “the most thoughtful, inspiring, driven, self-disciplined, loving man.”
“Paul, you were my soulmate, my soon-to-be-husband, my rock, and my future. You filled my lungs with laughter, my stomach with butterflies, and my heart with love,” Torello wrote in the emotional post. “You were taken too soon, in a battle that you fought bravely without fail. While a part of me died with you, I promise to fight to find joy in life as hard as you fought to live every single day. The world is lucky to have even had a moment with Paul Teal, and I am the luckiest person in it, because I got to call you mine. I will love you forever.”
Teal, who played Josh in the seventh season of “One Tree Hill,” was also remembered by stars Sophia Bush and Bethany Joy Lenz.
Bush said she was “incredibly saddened to hear about the passing of Paul Teal. We are just starting to watch his OTH episodes on [“Drama Queens” podcast] and he’s such a talent.”
Lenz worked with Teal on “One Tree Hill” and on a musical production of “The Notebook.”
“He was too young to die. Far too young. I’m gutted,” she wrote in an Instagram post. “Paul, your time here was like a summer romance for all of us who knew you, especially if only for a season. Bursting, exciting, deeply moving, and unforgettable.”
Teal also appeared in “Outer Banks” and “The Staircase.” He was also part of the cast of “The Hunting Wives,” which is expected to premiere in 2025.
CBS News
TNT’s “Inside the NBA” will air on ESPN, ABC starting next season, as part of NBA settlement
“Inside the NBA” will continue, even though games will no longer be airing on TNT at the end of this season.
The popular studio show will appear on ESPN and ABC beginning next season as part of a settlement between Warner Bros. Discovery and the NBA that was announced on Monday.
The settlement gives TNT Sports, Bleacher Report and House of Highlights a global license for NBA content with no rights fee for the next 11 years.
Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of TNT Sports, sued the NBA in New York state court in August after the league did not accept the company’s matching offer for one of the packages in its new 11-year media rights deal, which will begin with the 2025-26 season.
Even though “Inside the NBA” will be on ESPN and ABC, TNT Sports will continue to produce the show. It will air from Atlanta, except when the show goes on the road.
The quartet of Ernie Johnson Jr., Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal will remain with the show. Barkley signed an extension with Warner Bros. Discovery in August despite the company losing the NBA.
“‘Inside the NBA’ is universally recognized as one of the best and most culturally impactful shows in sports,” ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro said. “We have long-admired the immensely talented team and are thrilled to add their chemistry and knowledge to our robust set of NBA studio offerings to super-serve NBA fans like never before. The addition of ‘Inside the NBA’ further solidifies ESPN as the preeminent destination for sports fans.”
“Inside the NBA” will handle pregame, halftime and postgame coverage of the NBA Finals on ABC, conference finals and the NBA Playoffs. During the regular season, it will be part of opening week coverage, as well as Christmas Day, all ABC games after Jan. 1, the final week of the season and other marquee events.
“The opportunity to continue the iconic and Emmy Award-winning ‘Inside the NBA’ is a huge win for basketball fans everywhere,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. “We look forward to building on our longstanding partnership with TNT Sports and working together to promote NBA content across key WBD and NBA platforms.”
“Inside the NBA” started in 1989, Johnson became the host in 1990 while Smith joined fulltime in 1998. Barkley came aboard in 2000 followed by O’Neal in 2011. The show has garnered 21 Sports Emmy Awards.
ESPN will also continue to produce “NBA Countdown” and “NBA Today.”
Warner Bros. Discovery will also continue its relationship with the league’s digital operations, including NBA.com, for five seasons. TNT Sports and the NBA have jointly managed NBA Digital since 2009.
Even though TNT Sports will not be airing games in the United States beginning next season, it does have rights to air a full package of games in select countries, including Latin America (excluding Brazil and Mexico), Poland, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden.
TNT Sports will also begin showing 13 Big 12 football and 15 men’s basketball games next season as part of a sublicense with ESPN. TNT will air two College Football Playoff games beginning this season also under a sublicense with ESPN.
Turner Sports has had an NBA package since 1984 and games have been on TNT since the network launched in 1988. That will end after this season.
“Together these agreements ensure fans will continue to enjoy TNT’s ‘Inside the NBA’ and create tremendous value for our entire portfolio as we accelerate the growth of TNT Sports, Bleacher Report, House of Highlights and our global sports business,” Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav said in a statement. “We are pleased to partner with the NBA and Disney/ESPN, and to have solidified long-term rights and revenue for WBD.”
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Court filing describes chaotic messaging around attempted $120,000 bribe in Feeding Our Future trial
Couple arrested in MN, part of ring that took Lululemon for $1M in thefts
Paul Teal, actor known for “One Tree Hill” role, dies at 35 after cancer battle
Court filing describes chaotic messaging around attempted $120,000 bribe in Feeding Our Future trial
Couple arrested in MN, part of ring that took Lululemon for $1M in thefts