Climate Change - Page 2

In 2017, Hurricane Irma offered scientists the chance to study the impact of a severe weather event on white-tailed deer. They discovered that the deer changed their movement rate and their habitat selection, thus are able to alter their behaviour in order to survive.

Australia’s devastating drought is having a critical impact on the iconic platypus. With increasing reports of rivers drying up and platypuses becoming stranded, it is feared that local populations are declining rapidly.

The largest botanical dataset ever has been created by scientists, who discovered that nearly 40% of land plant species are classified as ‘exceedingly rare’. And these species are found in areas that will be impacted by climate change.

Elephants, one of our few remaining megaherbivores, have a huge impact on their environment. A new study has shown that they also help protect against climate change by encouraging the growth of slow growing trees that sequester more carbon from the atmosphere.

European freshwater fish will be strongly affected by climate change. A new study has shown that species from the Mediterranean region are at high risk, with fish from extreme habitats characterised by heat and drought particularly vulnerable.

The impacts of climate change in the Antarctic will include temperature rise, sea-ice reduction and changes in food availability. Scientists from the British Antarctic Survey used risk assessments like those used in the workplace to determine which species will benefit and which are at risk.

46 years worth of satellite imagery has shown that Canada’s Peace-Athabasca Delta has been slowly drying. This has driven the decline of the muskrat, and may have repercussions for the many species that prey on it.

In response to climate change, tropical trees are migrating upslope. However, research has found that their movement is not fast enough to avoid a loss of biodiversity and even extinction.

A study in Finland looking at changes in bird populations has revealed that protected areas help to slow down the north-bound retreat of species as the planet warms due to climate change.