How Climate Change is Resulting in Mass Extinctions


How Climate Change is Resulting in Mass Extinctions 

Climate change is severely affecting our local and global ecosystems (shocking I know). According to Celine Bellard’s article Impacts of Climate Change on the Future of Biodiversity, if current extinction rates continue, we could find ourselves in a 6th mass extinction event (Bellard, 2012). That doesn’t sound pleasant, but it’s the harsh reality. Climate change is having irreversible consequences for species across the globe. These consequences include: decreases in genetic diversity, modifications to food webs, changes in vegetation, habitat size/ structure, life cycles, and more. 

Climate change is affecting all levels of biodiversity, from the organism itself, to entire biomes. At the basic level, genetic diversity is decreasing in certain populations due to changes in selection and migration caused by climate change (Bellard, 2012). This in turn affects ecosystem functioning and resilience to climate change and invasive species. Some of the predicted consequences of climate change and its effects on different levels of biodiversity are depicted in the following chart:

 

   

 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2011.01736.x. 

 

Beyond the effects listed above, climate change is likely to modify food webs at the community level. According to Celine Bellard, “A study of 9650 interspecific systems, including pollinators and parasites, suggested that around 6300 species could disappear following the extinction of their associated species… Climate change has led to phenological shifts in flowering plants and insect pollinators, causing mismatches between plant and pollinator populations that lead to the extinctions of both the plant and the pollinator.” (Bellard, 2012). Climate change is also projected to alter life cycles of certain species. This will only further affect ecosystem functioning. Other components of species extinction, such as habitat destruction, pollution, and overexploitation will only reinforce the damage caused by climate change. 

 

Climate change can also prompt changes to ecosystem integrity. According to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, there will be a shift for 5-20% of terrestrial ecosystems (Bellard, 2012). If these are severe enough, they can lead to irreversible shifts in entire biomes. Increased temperatures and decreased rainfall also mean that lakes across the world (especially in dry regions) could completely vanish. Oceans are also predicted to warm up and become acidic, resulting in widespread coral bleaching (Bellard, 2012). Rises in sea levels (as much as 2 meters) by 2100 would further threaten coastal ecosystems. Due to the rapid changes in climate niches and ecosystem shifts, many species will not be able to adapt fast enough, resulting in local and global extinctions (Bellard, 2012)

Current estimates suggest that losses in biodiversity due to climate change are higher than previously thought. According to a new meta-analysis, by 2100, losses in biodiversity could be as high as “12.6% in plants (vs. 4% predicted), 9.4% in invertebrates (vs. 7.2% predicted) and 17.7% in vertebrates (vs. 12.4% predicted).” (Bellard, 2012). Endemic species are the most vulnerable. Under worst-case scenarios, 39-43% of all endemic species could go extinct. This would represent the potential loss of 56,000 plant species, and 3,700 vertebrate species (Bellard, 2012).

Although more research is needed to understand the full extent of the damage, it’s clear that Climate Change is the single greatest challenge of our time. We must demand more action on climate change and conservation efforts. If we choose to do nothing, we can see hundreds or even thousands of species disappear in our lifetime. On that depressing note, what do you think? How should we protect our local species from extinction? Let me know in the comments. Reach out to me at gac94@cornell.edu for questions and suggestions for what I should cover next, and I hope to hear from you in the next post!


 

https://www.treehugger.com/animals-most-endangered-by-global-warming-4119338


 

The first mammal species to go extinct due to human-induced climate change

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jun/14/first-case-emerges-of-mammal-species-wiped-out-by-human-induced-climate-change 


Work cited:

Bellard, Celine, et al. “Impacts of Climate Change on the Future of Biodiversity.” Wiley Online Library, 18 Jan. 2012, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2011.01736.x. 

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