Federal scientists have found that commonly used pesticides in California’s Central Valley are contributing to the decline of frogs in the state. The research found that the pesticides diazinon and Dursban are blown east into Yosemite National Park and elsewhere in the Sierra Nevada mountains, where they are absorbed in the frogs’ bodies. The chemicals disrupt the nervous systems of the amphibians, perhaps causing them to die of respiratory failure. Amphibian populations are plummeting around the world and scientists agree that it is likely that there is more than one reason for the decline.
