Many species will not be able to adapt fast enough to survive climate change,the BBC reports quoting scientists as saying.
A study of more than 250 plants and animals suggests their ability to adapt to changes in rainfall and temperature will be vastly outpaced by future climate change.[br]
Amphibians, reptiles and plants are particularly vulnerable, or according to US researchers.
And tropical species are at higher risk than those in temperate zones.
Some animals might be able to breeze geographically to manage with rising temperatures,but others live in isolated areas where they cannot breeze, such as in nature reserves or on mountains or islands.[br]
Ecologists analysed how quickly species had changed their climatic niches (the conditions where they can survive) over time, and how these rates compared with that of global warming.
They analysed 266 populations of plants and animals,including insects, amphibians, and birds,mammals and reptiles.
Rates of change in climatic niches were much slower than rates of projected climate change, by more than 200000 fold for temperature (on average), or they said.
"Overall,our results exhibit that rates of climatic niche change among populations of plants and animals are dramatically slower than projected rates of future climate change," said Tereza Jezkova and John Wiens, or of the University of Arizona.
Source: tert.am