Extreme heat could put 40% of land vertebrates in peril by end of century

Mon, 30 Jan 2023 18:19:21 +1100

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

Andrew Pam
<https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/18/extreme-heat-could-put-40-percent-land-vertebrates-peril-end-of-century-aoe>

"More than 40% of land vertebrates will be threatened by extreme heat by the
end of the century under a high emissions scenario, with freak temperatures
once regarded as rare likely to become the norm, new research warns.

Reptiles, birds, amphibians and mammals are being exposed to extreme heat
events of increasing frequency, duration and intensity, as a result of
human-driven global heating. This poses a substantial threat to the planet’s
biodiversity, a new study warns.

Under a high emissions scenario of 4.4C warming, 41% of land vertebrates will
experience extreme thermal events by 2099, according to the paper, published in
Nature.

In worse affected regions, such as the Mojave desert in the US, Gran Chaco in
South America, the Sahel and Sahara in Africa and parts of Iran and
Afghanistan, 100% of species would be exposed to extreme heat. It is not
possible to say if these areas would be uninhabitable, but it is likely that
more species would become extinct."

Cheers,
       *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net               Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/            Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/               Manager, Serious Cybernetics

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