
A new major study has warned that if climate change continues on its current path one third of all plant and animal species will be extinct in the next 50 years.
Researchers from the University of Arizona analysed data relating to weather trends and recent extinctions to give a grim prediction – revealed in journal Science Daily.
The team surveyed data from 538 species and 581 sites across the world and found that 44% of species had gone extinct at one or more sites.
This ‘local extinction’ indicates to scientists that changing weather can have a severe impact on species, and therefore means climate change is a threat to their long term survival.
Evolutionary biologists Cristian Román-Palacios and John J. Wiens from the university led the study.
‘Detailed estimates’
“By analyzing the change in 19 climatic variables at each site, we could determine which variables drive local extinctions and how much change a population can tolerate without going extinct,” Román-Palacios said.
“We also estimated how quickly populations can move to try and escape rising temperatures. When we put all of these pieces of information together for each species, we can come up with detailed estimates of global extinction rates for hundreds of plant and animal species.”
The study identified maximum annual temperatures as the vital piece of information which indicates if a population will go extinct.
And the researchers found that average yearly temperatures showed smaller changes at sites with local extinction, even though average temperatures are widely used to report overall climate change.
‘Misleading’
“This means that using changes in mean annual temperatures to predict extinction from climate change might be positively misleading,” Wiens said.
Previous studies have focused on dispersal – or migration to cooler habitats – as a means for species to “escape” from warming climates.
However, the authors of the current study found that most species will not be able to disperse quickly enough to avoid extinction, based on their past rates of movement.
Instead, they found that many species were able to tolerate some increases in maximum temperatures, but only up to a point.
They found that about 50% of the species had local extinctions if maximum temperatures increased by more than 0.5 degrees Celsius, and 95% if temperatures increase by more than 2.9 degrees Celsius.
‘Choose your own adventure’
Projections of species loss depend on how much climate will warm in the future.
“In a way, it’s a ‘choose your own adventure,'” Wiens said. “If we stick to the Paris Agreement to combat climate change, we may lose fewer than two out of every 10 plant and animal species on Earth by 2070.
“But if humans cause larger temperature increases, we could lose more than a third or even half of all animal and plant species, based on our results.”
The paper’s projections of species loss are similar for plants and animals, but extinctions are projected to be two to four times more common in the tropics than in temperate regions.
“This is a big problem, because the majority of plant and animal species occur in the tropics,” Román-Palacios added.
Share this article to reveal the catastrophic damage climate change is doing to the planet.
Lifestyle
Vegan culture, food, beauty & more
Gordon Ramsay Ditches Vegan Hate and Backs Flora’s Plant-Based Butter in New ‘Skip the Cow’ Campaign
- Totally Vegan Buzz Team
- 28th January 2025
Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, once infamous for his digs at vegans, has taken a sharp turn in the kitchen. Ramsay has teamed up with Flora, the famous UK-based spread brand, as its global ambassador, marking a bold new chapter in Flora’s “Skip the Cow” campaign. Flora, established in 1964, has long been a household name …
The Top 10 Vegan-Friendly Places in Latin America
- Totally Vegan Buzz Team
- 27th January 2025
Latin America is experiencing an extraordinary rise in plant-based dining options. A new study, spearheaded by Veganuary in partnership with the food discovery platform HappyCow, reveals that Latin America now boasts over 10,000 vegan, vegetarian, and vegan-friendly restaurants—an impressive 21.6% jump compared to last year. Brazil takes the crown as the number one country, with …
Continue reading “The Top 10 Vegan-Friendly Places in Latin America”
VEGAN MEMES
NEED A LAUGH?
QUIZZES
All the quizzes you love to binge!
QUIZ: If you score 11/12 on this quiz, you’re a verified vegan food expert
- Marlon Farrugia
- 10th January 2020
How much vegan knowledge do you have stored away? Do you have to Google your way through a shopping trip, or do you have all the bad E-numbers memorised? Find out now with this quiz. [wpViralQuiz id=27203]
QUIZ: What is your perfect Vegan Halloween Costume?
- Marlon Farrugia
- 13th October 2019
Spook Season approaches. There will be ghosts, goblins, ghouls, and glucose. You need a costume, and you want to it to show off your personality, which means VEGAN. But what to choose? Take our quiz to find out your perfect outfit. [wpViralQuiz id=33494]
QUIZ: What kind of vegetable are you?
- Marlon Farrugia
- 26th September 2019
“If you were a vegetable, what kind would you be?” A question that has tormented humanity throughout the ages – until now. [wpViralQuiz id=31281] Read: QUIZ: If you score 19/20 on THIS quiz, you’re a Vegan God