How Can Climate Change Impact Wildlife Conservation?

Climate change, to put it simply, will make wildlife conservation harder. With climate change, animals and plants throughout the world will be significantly impacted, which can cause the extinction of numerous species because they cannot find the basic necessities to live.

Though there is a lot that conservation can do to help plants and animals, it’s going to be necessary to change and adapt as time goes by to keep up with climate change and the impact it will have. Some of the impacts climate change will have include;

Animals Will Move

Researchers are already seeing animals move further than they normally would find comfortable climates, the right homes, and the food they rely on to survive. From fish to much larger animals, moving is not easy to do, as going a little bit further than the normal range can lead to what they’re looking for or an environment that’s not going to support them, and the animals won’t know what it is until they get there.

Anyone can learn more about this by purchasing a sea turtle tracking bracelet and seeing where the turtles are swimming now and in the future. Doing so can also help support conservation efforts, protecting the sea turtles.

Plants Could Have Trouble Growing

Plants are not able to move like animals are, so they’re stuck where they grow. Though seeds can be spread to different areas, changes in the climate will mean fewer seeds are able to take root and grow. They simply won’t have what they need to thrive. This impacts not only crops, which need the right temperatures to grow but all plants, including the trees that work to remove carbon from the air and release clean air. While it might be possible to grow some plants in other areas, there are plants, like mangroves, that only grow in specific areas and that provide benefits that won’t be possible if they are gone.

Tree Loss Could Cause Further Damage

Losing trees could lead to even more damage that can impact wildlife. Mangroves, for instance, are home to various animals and provide benefits to the shoreline where they’re found. Without mangroves, severe weather and erosion will mean the beach ends up disappearing. Sand will be washed away by hurricanes and other severe weather, removing homes and food sources for ocean life. Various tree species provide benefits elsewhere, as well, and their disappearance due to climate change can have a much larger impact than what it looks like at first glance.

Increase in Severe Weather

Researchers are already seeing an increase in severe weather. Hurricanes are larger, pull in more water, and cause more catastrophic damage to coastal areas. The warmer water that occurs due to climate change will cause stronger hurricanes, which will end up causing far more damage. Not only does this lead to billions of dollars of damage for those who live in areas that have hurricanes, but it hurts the wildlife in the area, too.

Plants are damaged or killed, the soil is lost to erosion, plastic and other materials end up in the waters, and animals are killed or lose their home and food sources. The focus after hurricanes is on the human toll taken, but the plants and animals suffer significantly, too. This will only get worse with climate change.

Further Research into Microclimates

Researchers have noticed that some areas have microclimates that are more resistant to climate change than others. Right now, more research is needed to find out how this happens and how the information can be used to benefit wildlife not only in that area but throughout the world.

The hope is that further research into microclimates can lead to a way to lessen the impact climate change has on the world, as well as all of the plants and animals. With the information gained from the research, it may be possible to make changes to conservation that coincide with the changes happening due to climate change.

All of these changes are due to climate change, and some are starting to happen now. Researchers and conservationists are noticing changes in where and how animals live, the plants naturally growing in areas, and more. They’re seeing that adapting to climate change and working to minimize the impact on plants and animals is necessary and that more changes will be needed in the future to protect as many plants and animals as possible.

Though a lot of this seems disheartening, there are things that everyone can do to help. Reducing carbon emissions, recycling as much as possible, minimizing reliance on single-use plastics, and conserving energy are just a few of the ways individuals can reduce their impact on the environment.

Buying from sustainable sources and paying attention to the impact even small actions can have will help reduce the damage being done to the environment and help conservationists do more to protect wildlife throughout the world.