Global Warming

Climate change ‘forcing species to move’

Warming temperatures are causing about half of the world’s plants and animals to move location, an international conference in Australia heard Wednesday, with every major type of species affected.

Camille Parmesan, an expert from Britain’s Plymouth University on how climate change impacts wildlife, said data on thousands of species found that many had shifted their ranges toward the poles or up mountains over the past century.

“While about half of all studied species have changed their distributions in response to recent climate change, we are starting to see negative impacts for the most vulnerable species.”

Other changes had been observed such as plants flowering earlier or migratory birds arriving sooner in the year than previously, she added.

Parmesan said areas most at risk included sensitive systems such as polar regions dependent on sea ice and mountainous forests.

Studies showed that about half of species have moved their geographical ranges poleward and/or upward while about two-thirds of species studied have shifted toward earlier spring breeding, migrating, or blooming.

Every major group has been impacted including trees, herbs, butterflies, birds, mammals, amphibians, corals, invertebrates and fish.