Thousands of Animals Disappearing as Global Food Webs Collapse

Climate change is one of the main drivers of species loss globally. Research published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science titled 'Coextinctions dominate future vertebrate losses from climate and land use change' shows that 10% of land animals could disappear from particular geographic areas by 2050, and almost 30% by 2100. This is more than double previous predictions. This means children born today who live to their 70s will witness thousands of animals disappear in their lifetime, from lizards and frogs to mammals such as elephants and koalas.

But if we manage to dramatically reduce carbon emissions globally, we could save thousands of species from local extinction this century alone write Corey J. A. Bradshaw, professor of global ecology and models theme leader for the ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, Flinders University and Giovanni Strona, Doctoral program supervisor, University of Helsinki