14 DAY TRIAL // The tropics is expected to undergo “unprecedented” transformations due to climate change and global warming over the next 10 years, researchers argue in a paper published in yesterday's issue of the journal Nature.
Otherwise put, animal and plant species in this part of the world will be forced to adapt or fall off the biodiversity map long before polar bears even begin to understand that something is seriously off with the planet and that this “something” is threatening to destroy their home in the Arctic.
Scientists explain that, because plants and animals at the tropics are used to fairly constant temperatures, the slightest of changes in local weather patterns is bound to disturb ecosystems and make them go haywire.
“We are not underestimating the importance of climate change at the poles, we are pointing out the fact that we have been overlooking the potential high impact that will happen at the tropics,” researcher Camilo Mora with the University of Hawaii, Manoa wished to stress, as cited by Live Science.
In their paper, the researchers also warn that, around the year 2047, give or take half a decade, annual average temperatures for the entire globe will increase to unprecedented levels.
As Camilo Mora put it, “The coldest year in the future will be hotter than the hottest year in the past [150 years].”
“By 2050, between 1 [billion] and 5 billion people, depending on carbon mitigation scenarios, will live in areas undergoing unprecedented climate change. The countries most impacted are ones with the least ability to respond,” study co-author Ryan Longman also said.