{"id":12117,"date":"2026-07-02T13:35:42","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T11:35:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/evropskakuca.rs\/izvestaj\/nauka-u-kuci-biodiverzitet-i-odumiranje-vrsta\/"},"modified":"2026-07-02T13:45:05","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T11:45:05","slug":"nauka-u-kuci-biodiverzitet-i-odumiranje-vrsta","status":"publish","type":"izvestaj","link":"https:\/\/evropskakuca.rs\/en\/izvestaj\/nauka-u-kuci-biodiverzitet-i-odumiranje-vrsta\/","title":{"rendered":"Science In The House: Biodiversity and Species Extinction"},"content":{"rendered":"

Amid the intense heatwaves affecting Europe, global warming has become an increasingly prominent topic of public discussion\u2014both in academic circles and among the wider public.<\/p>\n

Plants and animals across the planet are facing challenges similar to those experienced by people under today’s changing climate. Wildfires, droughts, floods, and rapid urbanisation have disrupted habitats and ecosystems, placing many species at risk and even driving some towards extinction.<\/p>\n

These pressing issues, as well as the current state of biodiversity and species extinction, were the focus of another edition of the Science in the House<\/strong><\/a> lecture series.<\/p>\n

The discussion featured Professor Vladimir \u0110ur\u0111evi\u0107<\/strong>, a climatologist from the Faculty of Physics, University of Belgrade, and\u00a0Tanja Vukov<\/strong>, an evolutionary biologist from the ‘Sini\u0161a Stankovi\u0107’ Institute for Biological Research. The event was moderated by the well-known duo Slobodan Bubnjevi\u0107<\/strong> and Marija Vudragovi\u0107<\/strong> from the popular science portal Science Through Stories (Nauka kroz pri\u010de)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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“Climate change is already here, and we have moved beyond trying to convince people that the climate has changed. Climatologists have been warning about this issue for a long time, and now we are all experiencing its effects firsthand,”<\/em> said Professor \u0110ur\u0111evi\u0107, explaining why climate change has become such an important field of research.<\/p>\n

“When it comes to our region, Southeast Europe is leading in terms of increasingly hot summers\u2014not only because temperatures are rising, but because they are rising faster than in many other parts of the world,<\/em>” he added.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Climate change and related phenomena, such as the well-known El Ni\u00f1o<\/strong>, are closely linked to changes in plant and animal life. Dr Vukov explained that the planet is currently experiencing its sixth mass extinction<\/strong>, noting that the previous five mass extinctions in Earth’s history were also driven by major climatic and atmospheric events.<\/p>\n

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“Scientists estimate that species are now disappearing a thousand times faster than would be expected under natural conditions. The first to disappear are the so-called ‘less charismatic’ species, such as arthropods and insects, which people often overlook or even consider pests,”<\/em> said Dr Vukov.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

According to the speakers, this anthropocentric approach has caused humanity to “miss the train” when it comes to protecting biodiversity. While efforts have often focused on species that people find more appealing, many less visible but equally important species have been neglected.<\/p>\n

Across Europe, however, some countries have begun restoring previously altered natural habitats. Along the Danube<\/strong>, for example, Romania<\/strong>, Hungary<\/strong>, and Austria<\/strong> are undertaking significant habitat restoration projects.<\/p>\n

One important point should not be forgotten: nature will endure in one form or another. The real question is whether humanity will endure alongside it.<\/p>\n

The Science in the House<\/strong> lecture series is now taking a summer break and will return after the holidays with new discussions on contemporary scientific topics.<\/p>\n

Organised by the Europe House<\/strong> in partnership with the popular science portal Science Through Stories (Nauka kroz pri\u010de)<\/strong><\/a>, the series aims to bring current scientific research and discoveries closer to the public in an engaging and accessible way. Science in the House<\/strong> is part of the European House’s monthly programme dedicated to promoting science and its achievements.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Amid the intense heatwaves affecting Europe, global warming has become an increasingly prominent topic of public discussion\u2014both in academic circles and among the wider public. Plants and animals across the planet are facing challenges similar to those experienced by people under today’s changing climate. Wildfires, droughts, floods, and rapid urbanisation have disrupted habitats and ecosystems, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":12115,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-12117","izvestaj","type-izvestaj","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":{"Grad":"Beograd","Vreme":"20260702","vreme_zavrsetka":"20260702","test_ripiter":null,"Kategorija":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/evropskakuca.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/izvestaj\/12117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/evropskakuca.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/izvestaj"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/evropskakuca.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/izvestaj"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/evropskakuca.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/evropskakuca.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/izvestaj\/12117\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12120,"href":"https:\/\/evropskakuca.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/izvestaj\/12117\/revisions\/12120"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/evropskakuca.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/evropskakuca.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}