Biruk Baye

@birukbaye · 12 Jun 2023

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The Impact of Climate Change on Wildlife: How Changing Environments Affect Animal Populations

#nature 

Climate change poses one of the biggest threats to wildlife and is already having significant impacts on animal populations around the world.  As the climate continues to change, it alters environments and ecosystems that wildlife depend on.  These changes threaten biodiversity and put many species at risk of extinction.

Rising global temperatures are causing sea ice to melt, which impacts polar bears, seals, and penguins in the Arctic and Antarctic.  Polar bears rely on sea ice for hunting seals, raising their young, and other critical aspects of their life cycle.  As sea ice declines, it leads to population declines and pushes polar bears closer to extinction.  Penguins and seals also rely on sea ice and are facing similar threats and habitat loss.

Changes in weather patterns are altering the timing of natural events and the availability of food sources that many species rely on.  For example, as temperatures rise, many flowers and plants are blooming earlier in the spring.  While this may lead to a longer growing season, it can disrupt the relationship between flowers and their pollinators like bees, birds and butterflies.  If pollinators emerge at different times than the plants they pollinate, it could lead to declines in plant reproduction and food sources for other wildlife.  

In other areas, changes in weather are linked with increases in forest fires, droughts and heat waves, which pose risks for many terrestrial animals.  Large forest fires destroy essential habitat and food sources for birds, deer, bears, and other wildlife.  Drought conditions and heat waves can also dry up water sources, leaving animals without access to water at critical times.  Some species face death and even local extinctions due to severe droughts and wildfires.

Sea levels are rising due to ice melt and warming oceans.  While sea level rise occurs slowly over time, it leads to coastal erosion and habitat loss in low-lying areas like beaches, wetlands, and mangroves.  Many species of birds, fish, and shellfish depend on these coastal areas for nesting, breeding and food sources.  As these habitats disappear under rising seas, the wildlife that inhabit them also diminish.  In some areas, coastal wildlife face squeezed habitat and increased mortality.  

In marine environments, ocean warming and acidification threaten entire ecosystems.  As oceans absorb much of the increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, it leads to warmer and more acidic waters.  Warming ocean temperatures cause coral reef bleaching which destroys coral habitats and the reef animals that live there.  Ocean acidification also harms shellfish like lobsters, shrimp, and plankton by making it difficult for them to grow their shells.  These changes ripple up the food chain and impact larger marine animals and the fishing industries that rely on them.

In conclusion, climate change poses serious threats to biodiversity through altering environments and disrupting relationships between wildlife species.  While the impacts vary in different areas of the world, collective changes to sea ice, weather patterns, forests, coasts and oceans are all damaging animal populations and pushing some closer to extinction.  Protecting wildlife and vulnerable species requires global actions to mitigate and adapt to climate change in the coming decades.  With conservation efforts and reduced greenhouse gas emissions, we can work to safeguard wildlife from the worst effects of climate change.