“Human society has yet to appreciate the implications of unprecedented species redistribution for life on Earth, including for human lives. Even if greenhouse gas emissions stopped today, the responses required in human systems to adapt to the most serious effects of climate-driven species redistribution would be massive. Meeting these challenges requires governance that can anticipate and adapt to changing conditions, as well as minimize negative consequences.”. Study author’s conclusion.
The Earth currently has a severe fever due to greenhouse gases which have been trapped in the atmosphere as a result of our burning of fossil fuels. The earth will continue to warm for some time even if greenhouse gas emissions are somehow magically eliminated. Some species, primarily microorganisms and invertebrates with short generation times (defined as the “average time between two consecutive generations in the lineage of a population”), might be able to adapt to changing conditions or evolve in response to climate change. But for many species, especially those that are already rare and inhabit limited meteorological conditions such as temperature, wind and precipitation and are specific to a certain region, the rising fever poses an overwhelming challenge.
Those who deny climate change and those in power that are complicit in a climate change cover up will say what difference does it make if some species go extinct?
The reason would be is that “diversity of species increases the ability of ecosystems to do things like hold soils together, maintain soil fertility, deliver clean water to streams and rivers, cycle nutrients, pollinate plants (including crops), and buffer against pests and diseases”. The projected loss of species will reduce this ability, particularly if the environmental conditions in which they are dependent for survival change rapidly at the same time. As the climate changes and “as species are eliminated from an area we will see a change in some ecosystem functions; more land degradation, changes in agricultural productivity and a reduction in the quality of water delivered to humans”.
“Climate change alone is expected to threaten with extinction approximately one quarter or more of all species on land by the year 2050, surpassing even habitat loss as the biggest threat to life on land. Species in the oceans and in fresh water are also at great risk from climate change, especially those that live in ecosystems like coral reefs that are highly sensitive to warming temperatures, but the full extent of that risk has not yet been calculated”.
The Sydney Herald, reports on a new study published in the journal Science that notes that human societies as well as and many other species will be tested by climate change with a myriad of problems including ones that are barely understood.
A Sierra Leone child suffering from Rotavirus. Climate change could make deadly diseases like rotavirus even worse.They note that the study provides evidence that species in every ecosystem are being affected by rising temperatures and shifting rainfall patterns. They point out that marine animals are moving pole-ward at the average pace of 52 miles and land-based animals at 10.5 miles per decade.
"Movement of mosquitoes in response to global warming is a threat to health in many countries through predicted increases in the number of known, and potentially new, diseases," the paper found, noting malaria is already a risk for about half of humanity, with more than 200 million cases recorded in 2014 alone.
Food security is also at risk from the spread of plant pathogens and other pests.
Stephen Williams, a rainforest ecologist, stated that "This is going to impact on a lot more than you think".
While some species can adapt by moving either to higher ground or cooler waters, not all can. Human populations, too, are limited in how they can move, depending on how tightly national boundaries are enforced.
"[T]he relative immobility of many human societies, largely imposed by jurisdictional borders, has limited capacity to respond to environmental change by migration," the paper said.
x xYouTube VideoThe success of human societies depends intimately on the living components of natural and managed systems. Although the geographical range limits of species are dynamic and fluctuate over time, climate change is impelling a universal redistribution of life on Earth. For marine, freshwater, and terrestrial species alike, the first response to changing climate is often a shift in location, to stay within preferred environmental conditions. At the cooler extremes of their distributions, species are moving poleward, whereas range limits are contracting at the warmer range edge, where temperatures are no longer tolerable. On land, species are also moving to cooler, higher elevations; in the ocean, they are moving to colder water at greater depths. Because different species respond at different rates and to varying degrees, key interactions among species are often disrupted, and new interactions develop. These idiosyncrasies can result in novel biotic communities and rapid changes in ecosystem functioning, with pervasive and sometimes unexpected consequences that propagate through and affect both biological and human communities.
ADVANCESAt a time when the world is anticipating unprecedented increases in human population growth and demands, the ability of natural ecosystems to deliver ecosystem services is being challenged by the largest climate-driven global redistribution of species since the Last Glacial Maximum. We demonstrate the serious consequences of this species redistribution for economic development, livelihoods, food security, human health, and culture, and we document feedbacks on climate itself. As with other impacts of climate change, species range shifts will leave “winners” and “losers” in their wake, radically reshaping the pattern of human well-being between regions and different sectors and potentially leading to substantial conflict. The pervasive impacts of changes in species distribution transcend single systems or dimensions, with feedbacks and linkages between multiple interacting scales and through whole ecosystems, inclusive of humans. We argue that the negative effects of climate change cannot be adequately anticipated or prepared for unless species responses are explicitly included in decision-making and global strategic frameworks.
OUTLOOKDespite mounting evidence for the pervasive and substantial impacts of a climate-driven redistribution of Earth’s species, current global goals, policies, and international agreements fail to account for these effects. With the predicted intensification of species movements and their diverse societal and environmental impacts, awareness of species “on the move” should be incorporated into local, regional, and global assessments as standard practice. This will raise hope that future targets—whether they be global sustainability goals, plans for regional biodiversity maintenance, or local fishing or forestry harvest strategies—can be achievable and that society is prepared for a world of universal ecological change. Human society has yet to appreciate the implications of unprecedented species redistribution for life on Earth, including for human lives. Even if greenhouse gas emissions stopped today, the responses required in human systems to adapt to the most serious effects of climate-driven species redistribution would be massive. Meeting these challenges requires governance that can anticipate and adapt to changing conditions, as well as minimize negative consequences.