Animals failing to adapt to speed of climate crisis, study finds [View all]

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Scientists warn of ‘alarming’ lag between human-driven seasons shift and animals’ behavioural changes
By Jonathan Watts
Published: 11:32 Tuesday, 23 July 2019

The speed of climate disruption is outstripping many animals’ capacity to adapt, according to a study that warns of a growing threat to even common species such as sparrows, magpies and deer.

Scientists behind the research described the results as alarming because they showed a dangerous lag between a human-driven shift in the seasons and behavioural changes in the natural world.
Based on 10,090 abstracts and extracted data from 71 published studies, it finds that amphibians adapted most strongly, followed by insects and birds, but there was a clear lag in the majority of species studied and none could be considered safe. “The probability that none of the study species is at risk is virtually zero,” the paper notes.

Viktoriia Radchuk of the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Germany, said: “Personally I find the results alarming. Species attempt to adapt to changing environment, but they cannot do it at a sufficient pace to ensure that populations are viable. Climate change has caused irreversible damage to our biodiversity already, as evidenced by the findings of this study. The fact that species struggle to adapt to the current rate of climate change means we have to take action immediately in order to at least halt or decrease the rate.”

More here
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jul/23/animals-failing-to-adapt-to-speed-of-climate-crisis-study-finds?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other