The profound threat of future climate change to biodiversity demands that scientists seek ever more effective ways to identify the most vulnerable species, communities, and ecosystems.
The profound threat of future climate change to biodiversity demands that scientists seek ever more effective ways to identify the most vulnerable species, communities, and ecosystems.
In a new study, published in Nature Climate Change , an international team of scientists has shown that the most biodiverse regions on Earth are among the most vulnerable to future climate change.
By establishing global patterns of unusually extreme climate change events during Earth’s history, and comparing these to 21st century patterns, the researchers were able to show that human-driven climate change will quickly erode important mechanisms that are likely to have sustained biodiversity across time.
“Our results show that the magnitude and accelerated rate of future climate change will disproportionately affect plants and animals in tropical regions and biodiversity hotspots. Worryingly, these are regions on Earth with the highest concentrations of biodiversity,” says lead author Associate Professor Damien Fordham from the University Adelaide’s Environment Institute.
Read more at University of Adelaide
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