Extinction Of Birds And Global Warming
Many birds are facing extinction as their natural habitats are slowly getting destroyed because of global warming. In fact, birds and plants are slowly moving to higher elevations because of rising temperatures across the world. However, as the higher reaches are also affected because of global warming, these habitats will also disappear leading to extinction of birds. |
According to researchers from Stanford University, this will happen and happen at an alarming rate as global warming continues. The researchers say that by 2100, global warming would have led to the extinction of nearly 30 percent of birds, especially land birds as they are in majority.
Scientists say that at the moment, 79 species of land birds are not considered threatened but this scenario might change very quickly if the world does not join hands to do something about the global warming that is taking place.
The study has shown that if the temperature rises by 2.8 degrees Celsius, nearly 400 to 550 land birds will go extinct. But in a worst case scenario, if the temperature rise is that of 6.4 degrees Celsius, 30 percent of the land bird population will become extinct. The reason of this is very simple. Global warming will affect the vegetation, which is dependent on a certain temperature level and rainfall to grow well. As the lowlands become too warm due to global warming, animals and birds will move to higher altitudes which will have the right temperature for them. However, in many areas there will be no higher elevations for the birds to move and live, but even having a mountain or hill to retreat to will not guarantee the survival of a species.
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