Animals Can No Longer Cope With The Effects Of Climate Change

The effects of climate change have been hitting in different regions and in various ways. Currently, researchers found that the effect of climate change in animals is much worse than people expect. They are being affected, in a way that some of them can no longer cope with the fast changes happening in the atmosphere.

A research of more than 250 animals and plants showed that their capability to adapt to changes in the rainfall. The temperature will be widely outrun by future climate change. According to the researchers, plants, reptiles and amphibians are mostly likely to be affected by the phenomenon. Also, the ones inhabiting the tropical area have a higher risk compared to the ones in the temperate zone, according to The Independent.

Meanwhile, some animal species might be able to cope with the rising temperature by moving geographically. As for the others, they might not be able to move, especially the ones inhabiting the isolated areas such on islands, mountains and nature reserves.

The ecologists focused their studies on how fast species had changed their climatic niches, which is the condition where they can survive over time. They then compared it with the rates of the global warming. The study was published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

John Wiens and Tereza Jezkova from the University of Arizona said that "Overall, our results show that rates of climatic niche change among populations of plants and animals are dramatically slower than projected rates of future climate change."

The experts also found that birds and mammals are more likely to survive than amphibians and reptiles because they have the capability to regulate their own body temperature. "For a lot of organisms, that is not an option. It's a double jeopardy of climate change and habitat destruction," Dr. Wein stated in an interview with BBC News.