Читать книгу How Can I Stop Climate Change: What is it and how to help - Литагент HarperCollins USD, F. M. L. Thompson - Страница 74

Plants, birds and animals cannot easily adjust to rapid changes – either in temperatures or in their food supply. The potential toll on the wildlife-rich rainforest of the Amazon is an extreme example. Experts believe the golden toad and harlequin frog – both native to Costa Rica – have disappeared as a direct result of climate change. Animals as diverse as polar bears, tigers, penguins and pikas are at risk. Some 70 per cent of coral in the Indian Ocean has already died as a result of the heat.

The IPCC predicts that 20-30 per cent of plant and animal species are at an increased risk of being wiped off the face of the Earth if global average temperatures rise by more than 1.5-2.5°C. Indeed some scientists put climate change at the top of the list of threats to biodiversity in many regions.