8 animals that are on the verge of extinction due to climate change

Climate change has been talked about a lot lately. People often dismiss him, someone does not believe that it is happening at all. Meanwhile, climatic transformations lead to the fact that some animal species are on the verge of extinction.

Whooping Crane

In the 1940s, American cranes almost disappeared due to North American hunters. But they managed to survive in order to face a new threat: global warming. Birds nest in the Arctic, surrounded by natural moats. Warming destroys this protection, giving predators access to chicks. On the other hand, they are threatened by severe storms. Annual migrations to Texas bring other problems: because of the large waterless territories along the way, cranes have to overcome the increasing distance between stops for rest.

Harlequin frog

Bright harlequin frogs once inhabited all of Central America. Now it is believed that more than a dozen species of the genus Atelopus have died out. The weather changes associated with the El Niño have led to the formation of clouds in the Andes higher than before, creating a cool, humid environment that is ideal for mushrooms that kill frogs. In other regions, drought withers frog skin. “The fact that they are small animals and people don’t know about them does not mean that they are not important,” says Ecuadorian biologist Luis Coloma, whose hometown was once teeming with these frogs. “They are as important as a polar bear or panda".

Big panda

Snow Leopard

This spotted feline with a thick hide lives between 9,800 and 17,800 feet above the Tibetan plateau, a cold, rocky area where it can hunt wild goats and sheep. But the increase in temperature makes leopards and their prey climb the slopes, dividing their habitats into separate peaks. Warming also attracts competing predators, for example, ordinary leopards, who previously avoided cold peaks, preferring forest hunting grounds. People also approach their habitats to graze goats and sheep. Sometimes they have to kill leopards who are too interested in livestock herds.

Koalas

Eucalyptus trees give everything to these marsupials: shelter, food and water, although the leaves of eucalyptus are slightly toxic. Unfortunately, an increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere changes the basic chemistry of eucalyptus leaves, making them less nutritious and more toxic. And severe droughts across Australia dry out foliage, which means less moisture for koalas. In arid regions, animals can die from renal failure caused by dehydration. Some of these animals are now drunk at special stations created by researchers.

Forest deer caribou

The deep snow of the peat forests of North America for a long time kept the competitors of the forest caribou in awe. But warming attracts other deer and wolves, which destroy the caribou population. Their cousins from the tundra are also threatened by weather changes. When sea ice evaporates along their habitat, it enters the upper atmosphere in the form of moisture and turns into heavy rain, which freezes in the snow, hiding underneath the plants that the deer eat. This water cycle can lead to starvation of tens of thousands of deer at a time.

Chevron butterfly fish

This striped fish is a picky foodie who dines only in certain types of coral. Both fish and corals live in waters around the world, from Hawaii to the Red Sea. But the temperature of the ocean rises, killing corals, which is why they lose their symbiotic algae. When cyclones tear apart already damaged reefs, the fish suffers even more. Perhaps some colonies of butterfly fish will survive, waiting to return to their native corals (if they ever recover). But for this, the seas must remain calm and cool for a decade or even longer.

Adelie Penguin

Adélie penguins have already had a difficult life since birth - in nests built on barren, rocky soil. But the increase in temperature on the Western Antarctic Peninsula has led to heavy snowfalls and large puddles. Cold, wet nests can be fatal for chicks who do not yet have waterproof feathers. And this is if the eggs do not freeze in cold puddles even before the birds get a chance to hatch. As a result, the population in the region is rapidly declining, and researchers are worried about the future of this species.