Climate Change Already Causing Local Species Extinctions

Climate change is already beginning to alter the natural world. A study of 976 plant and animal species worldwide—freshwater, terrestrial and marine—reveals that local extinctions have happened in 47% of their natural ranges.

This does not mean that species have become extinct: the effects are local. Amphibian species that once frequented particular ponds and streams have slipped away, meadow wildflowers have migrated, and once-familiar butterflies and bees have flown favourite nesting places, all in response to global warming.

John Wiens, an ecologist at the University of Arizona at Tucson, reports in the Public Library of Science Biology that he searched the biological databases for studies that recorded the “warm edge” of a species’ habitat: that is, the boundary of the range where conditions start to become too warm for comfort for any particular species.

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/global_warming_is_already_causing_local_extinctions_20161221

Jenn

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