Climate Change Is Happening too Fast for Animals to Adapt

The speed of climate disruption is outstripping many animals’ capacity to adapt, according to a study that warns of a growing threat to even common species such as sparrows, magpies, and deer.  Scientists behind the research described the results as “alarming” because they showed a dangerous lag between a human-driven shift in the seasons and behavioral changes in the natural world.

Previous academic work has shown that species respond to warming temperatures by earlier timing of biological events, for example egg-laying by birds, budding of plants, and flying of insects.  The new metastudy, published in Nature Research, examines how effective this is in terms of reproduction and survival.

Based on 10,090 abstracts and extracted data from 71 published studies, it found a clear lag in the majority of species studied and none could be considered safe.  “The probability that none of the study species is at risk is virtually zero,” the paper notes.

Read more at Climate Change Is Happening too Fast for Animals to Adapt