Climate change’s extinction threat
If current carbon emission trends continue unabated, climate change could wipe out up to half of all wildlife and 60 percent of plants in the world’s richest tropical habitats by the end of the century, according to a landmark new study. Researchers from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the University of East Anglia, and James Cook University analyzed the effects of a warming world on nearly 80,000 different plants and animals in 35 biologically diverse areas, including the Amazon River basin, the Galápagos Islands, Madagascar, and the Sundarbans in the Ganges River delta. They warn that a global temperature rise of 3.2 degrees Celsius (5.7 Fahrenheit)— which is now the United Nation’s estimated forecast for 2100—will render many habitats unsuitable for indigenous plants and animals, killing off such species as elephants and tigers. A 4.5-degree (8.1 F) increase, which is possible if nations do not meet emissions targets, will cause even more catastrophic die-offs. “Hotter days, longer periods of drought, and more intense storms are becoming the new normal, and species around the world are already feeling the effects,” WWF scientist Nikhil Advani tells CNN.com. The report also warns that slow-moving amphibians and reptiles, including frogs and lizards, may not be able to migrate to more hospitable environments quickly enough to survive. To minimize the damage, researchers say, the world should do “everything possible to reduce the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.”