Hundreds of living things on Earth are in danger of extinction due to climate change; According to a study by researchers at the University of Arizona, by 2070, almost half of all animals and plants on Earth will be extinct (depending on human efforts to prevent global warming).
The study, published in the Journal of Progress of the National Academy of Sciences, looked at 583 species of animals and 581 habitats around the world, and then compared the populations of those animals in those specific areas with those of ten years ago. Researchers recorded climate data for these habitats at the beginning and end of the study, and eventually found that about 44% of the 538 different species of animals that lived in those areas ten years ago became extinct during this period.
The researchers said that the extinction of the animals was higher in the areas that experienced the highest annual temperatures (the hottest days of the year) compared to the habitats where the lowest temperature fluctuations occurred.
But according to the study, the extinction of animals is ultimately related to human efforts to combat climate change and how much warmer the planet Earth will be in the future.
John Vince, co-author of the paper and a professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Arizona, said:
In other words, man must choose the future for himself. If we act in accordance with the provisions of the Paris Agreement to combat climate change, we may reduce the death toll to less than two out of every 10 species of plants and animals, but if humans raise the earth’s temperature more than it is, it may be more than a third or even half. Lose from the population of animals and plants of the earth.
In May 2019, a report was prepared with the support of the United Nations and 145 different experts from around the world, which showed that one million species of plants and animals will become extinct within the next decade.
