CLIMATE CHANGE AND ENDANGERED ANIMALS In the last 40 years, over 60% of animals are going extinct. Every day over the last 40 or so years, animals are becoming more and more endangered due to climate change, habitat loss and poaching. The international union for conservation of nature produces a “red list” of species that are categorized in different categories. The categories that species are put into are “least concern” up to “vulnerable”, “endangered”, “critically endangered” and “extinct”. According to statistics, over 5000 species are categorized as being critically endangered. Sea levels are rising and oceans are
becoming warmer and warmer with time. Recently, climate temperatures that are rising are causing droughts which threaten crops, wildlife and fresh water supplies. From polar bears that live in the Arctic to marine animals such as sea turtles, each year more and more animals are at risk from the changing climate. In order to address this ongoing crisis, the human society must reduce carbon pollution, and get more educated on global warming which is a major crisis that is affecting the earth in a negative way. Overall ways to protect species from going extinct is by keeping the global temperature rise as low as possible. The Paris Agreement
pledges to reduce the expected level of global warming from 4.5°c to around 3°c, which will reduce the impacts, ideally, we can see greater improvements at 2°c. Doing so, will protect wildlife. Ways to protect wildlife from going extinct, are recycle and buy sustainable products and even veganism. Most of our waste ends up in the ocean, disrupting the natural habitat of marine life. Humans are at the top of the food chain and we have a huge impact on what happens to our earth. We need to be more aware of the products we’re using and realize that climate change is a real thing. People need to get more educated on climate change and ways to protect our earth and the living species that we share it with.