99.8% Face Climate Change Driven Extinction

                                                                                                      Chuck Graham/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

The government agencies responsible for the protection of endangered species in the US aren’t prepared for the impact of climate change on those species.  The threat is understood, but there has been a limited to non-existent response to that treat.

Of the 459 animal species listed as endangered by the US government, researchers found that all but one, or 99.8%, have characteristics that will make it difficult for them to adapt to rising temperatures.

"This study confirms that the climate crisis could make it even harder for nearly all of our country’s endangered species to avoid extinction,” said Astrid Caldas, a study co-author and a climate scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

“While agencies have increasingly listed climate change as a growing threat to species whose survival is already precarious, many have not translated this concern into tangible actions, meaning a significant protection gap still exists.”