What species may become extinct due to climate change, which species could adapt to changing conditions and have we already seen this begin to happen?
Climate change is an ongoing issue that is impacting all species across the planet. With warmer weather both on land and in the water, many different animals are becoming stressed in their environments or even losing their homes. I am from Canada, and one species that we worry about coming extinct is the beautiful polar bear (Ursus Maritimus). They live way up north in the arctic, and they are facing a very uncertain future as warmer temperatures are significantly impacting their icy habitat. As the summers get longer and warmer, the sea ice is melting quickly and not re-forming fast enough to allow the bears to have access to hunt seals. This is causing lots of bears to go hungry, which is a direct result of the warm temperatures from the effects of climate change.
A little bit closer to your home, another species that is impacted by the changing climate is the koala (Phascolarctos Cinereus). These cute, fluffy animals have a special diet of eucalyptus leaves but as carbon dioxide levels rise, the nutritional value of the leaves is decreasing, leaving the koalas malnourished and starving. Furthermore, we are seeing increased droughts and bushfires due to climate change, which will also have severe impacts on the koalas and their environment.
The good news is that some species might have the ability to adapt to climate change, but the real problem is how fast these changes are happening. While all animals will do their best to survive by moving to new locations or finding ways to try to control how their bodies react, not all of them can do it fast enough to keep up. However, one animal that has done an awesome job of dealing with our changing climate is the lungfish! As droughts become more frequent, lots of animals must learn to cope with water shortages. This animal lives in marshes and reservoirs and if the habitats dry up, the lungfish can actually make its bladder function as a lung! For a fish, this is super cool that they have adapted to be able to breathe air during the increasingly-long dry season.
Every species is being impacted by climate change in their own way and what we hope is that they will be able to find a way to survive, and thrive, under these circumstances. However, it is inevitable that some will not. The best thing that we can do is to try to minimize our impacts as humans to reduce the effects of climate change which will hopefully help all these amazing animals around the world!
