Super Eco

Photo credit: flickr, azrainman

Is this deformed cyclops frog real? Thankfully, it's not. I triple-checked, because you never know these days. Real and really freaky froggy mutations eerily similar to this Photoshop tweak aren't too far off in the future, give or take a leg or three.

The evidence, according to an Associated Press report released today: An alarming 1,895 species of frogs, toads and other amphibian cousins are dropping like their favorite food at an alarming rate. Why? Because of toxic fungus- and algae-brewing industrial and residential runoff water pollution and pharmaceutical-loaded pee from you and me. But you knew that. Don't forget climate change, habitat annihilation and ozone thinning.

Poor Kermit. Miss Piggy's codependency isn't enough. He has to have major existential issues, too. Literally.

And when frogs have problems, so do we, the fertilizer-sprinkling two-leggeds who endanger them. See, certain amphibians, like frogs, are indicator species. Basically, they are the first animals to show up warped when something's rotten in Denmark, and in the rest of the world and our environment. When frogs grow freaky, biodiversity scientists cry Red Alert. For example, they're warning that "up to 30 percent of all species on Earth could vanish by 2050 due to unsustainable human activities."

If you think mosquitoes are a pain now, just wait.

Actually, please don't.

Don't wait until Kermit ends up like the countless webbed wonders that died off before scientists could discover them. How can you help? Start by reading this and picking one or two easy action items to help slow the fast-forward plight of the frog. When you do, you also help the birds and other wildlife that rely on frog eggs and tadpoles for survival, and you help yourself and everyone else in this great and greatly diminishing web of life.