Global Warming

Endangered Cactus

Global heating is on track to become so intense during the next few decades that the survival of 60% of cactus species may be threatened, a new study finds.

Researchers from the University of Arizona tested the belief that cacti will benefit from the hotter and drought-prone world to come. They examined data from more than 400 species and projected how the warming climate would affect them. “Our results suggest that climate change will become a primary driver of cactus extinction risk, with 60% to 90% of species assessed negatively impacted by global warming,” the researchers concluded. Expanding agriculture and habitat losses also make cacti among the most endangered living things on Earth.