A little extra global warming will mean a lot more habitat loss for plants and animals, study says

A polar bear walks in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. New research suggests that a small difference in global temperatures will have a big effect on wildlife habitat. (Subhankar Banerjee / Associated Press)

As reported by Deborah Netburn in the Los Angeles Times, a recent scientific analysis was provoked by the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement. The published study provided estimates of different species’ loss as a result of the global temperature reaching 2 degrees Celsius higher than the average prior to industrialization. According to the researchers, 8% of vertebrates, 16% of plants, and 18% of insects lose over half of their geographical range. The study also noted that even keeping the global temperature just 0.5 degrees Celsius below that, at 1.5 degrees Celsius, prevented such significant proportions of species’ loss.

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Source Los Angeles Times