Can you imagine a world where more than half of our common plant species and a third of our known animals disappear from sight? That's the scenario1 suggested by new research on the impact of climate change.
An international team of researchers looked at the impact of rising temperatures on nearly 50,000 species of plants and animals. They came to the conclusion that these are to decline due to changes in their habitat.
They looked at temperature and rainfall records for the habitats in which these species now live, and mapped the areas that would remain suitable for them under different weather conditions.
The scientists projected that if no significant efforts were made to limit greenhouse gas emissions2, by the year 2100 global temperatures would be 4C above pre-industrial levels. In this scenario, some 34% of animal species and 57% of plants would lose more than half of their current habitat ranges.
The impact on species will be felt more heavily in some parts of the world
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