52
How Climate Change
Threatens Habitats
“
Climate change is altering key habitat elements that are
critical to wildlife’s survival and putting natural resources in
jeopardy.
”
—National Wildlife Federation, America’s largest conservation organization
National Wildlife Federation, “Effects on Wildlife and Habitat.”
.
Since the earth has existed, it has experienced natural fluctua-
tions in climate: periods of cooling, followed by periods of warm-
ing, and then back to periods of cooling. There is strong evidence,
from record high temperatures in numerous cities to massive ice
melting in the Arctic, that the planet is again in a warming period.
Most scientists emphasize, however, that what is happening now
is anything but natural. They warn that the planet is heating up
more rapidly than at any time in history.
Some of the most compelling signs of rapid climate change
are the effects on wildlife habitats. “Climate change is altering key
habitat elements that are critical to wildlife’s survival and putting
natural resources in jeopardy,” says the National Wildlife Federa-
tion. Melting ice in the Arctic Circle; warming oceans, lakes, and
rivers; and severe droughts are all signs of how climate change
is altering natural habitats. Human populations may increasingly
experience difficulties as a result of these changes, but they can
adjust to changing conditions more easily than animals. As the
National Wildlife Federation explains, “Species may not be able
CHAPTER FOUR
