Limiting global warming would save most plants and animals

    Limiting global warming to 1,5 ° C would save most plant and animal species from climate change. This is revealed by a new study, according to which it is not true that we have passed the point of no return. We can still run for cover to save the Earth from global warming



    Limiting global warming to 1,5 ° C by 2100 would save most animal and plant species from climate change. This is revealed by a new study, according to which it is not true that we have passed the point of no return. We can still run for cover to save the Earth from global warming.



    A new report reveals that limiting warming as stipulated by the Paris Agreement would halve the risks to plants and animals and reduce the risks to insects by two thirds.

    The study, led by researchers from the University of East Anglia (UEA) and James Cook University in Australia, is the first to investigate how limiting warming to 1,5 ° C would benefit species globally. .

    Especially those living in southern Africa, the Amazon, Europe and Australia would benefit the most.

    Previous research had focused on quantifying the benefits of limited warming to 2 ° C compared to pre-industrial levels and had never considered insects. In fact, reducing the risks for the latter is particularly important because they are essential for so-called “ecosystem services” such as the pollination of crops and flowers. In addition, insects are part of the food chain of other birds and animals.

    Limiting global warming would save most plants and animals

    Researchers from UEA and James Cook University studied approximately 115.000 species including 31.000 insects, 8000 birds, 1.700 mammals, 1.800 reptiles, 1.000 amphibians and 71.000 plants.

    "We wanted to see how different climate futures could make these areas climatically unsuitable for the species that populate them," said lead researcher, Rachel Warren, of the University of the East's Tyndall Center for Climate Change Research. Anglia.

    Scientists monitored the risks to biodiversity counting the number of species that, according to forecasts, would lose more than half of their geographical range due to climate change.

    "We found that achieving the ultimate goal of the Paris Agreement, limiting warming to 1,5 ° C above pre-industrial levels, would have enormous benefits for biodiversity, far more than limiting warming to 2 ° C."



    Insects are particularly sensitive to climate changes. With warming to 2 ° C, 18 percent of those tested are likely to lose more than half of their range. This percentage would drop to 6% if global warming could be kept to within 1,5 ° C. Otherwise, following the current warming trend, if it reached around 3 ° C, almost 50 percent of insects would lose half of the range.

    "We found that the three main insect groups responsible for pollination are particularly sensitive to warming."

    In Paris, countries agreed to try to limit emissions by keeping warming within 2 ° C, but not everyone agrees that this will be enough. There is a lot of skepticism about the results of the agreement and the situation is even more complicated by the backsliding of the United States led by President Trump.

    The study also looked at the ability of other species to move to more suitable places as the world warms. Birds, mammals and butterflies have the greatest ability to move, but unfortunately scientists say that if warming is limited to 1,5 ° C by 2100, more species will be able to keep up, but if they exceed 2 ° C, many will not. they will.

    Not just small animals. With warming limited to 1,5 ° C, even the black rhino, currently at risk of extinction, would have better prospects for survival. The Paris commitments are just the beginning. To contain climate change, greater efforts are needed.


    The study was published in Science.


    READ also:

    • Climate change: global warming dwindles animals and plants
    • Climate change: with only 2 degrees more an incalculable loss of biodiversity

    Francesca Mancuso

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