this is not a hoax, it is very real, scientists have warned. Possibilities of invasions by alien pest species due to global warming are already giving them nightmares, apart from looming large as a threat to biodiversity across the planet. And most experts say that the situation will surely worsen within the next few decades as the mercury continues to rise.

"Without any question, global change is going to aggravate this problem,' says Harold Mooney, an ecologist at Stanford University, who chaired an international workshop on invading species and global change, held in April in San Mateo, Claifornia. However, nothing can be predicted about this unusual phenomenon, say experts, since very little research has been done so far.

The outcome will depend on regional variations in climate change