Climate Change Threatens 2/3 of North American Bird Species with Extinction

CHALLENGES JANUARY 31, 2020

A report released by the National Audubon Society predicts a dire future for North America’s birds if climate change isn’t slowed. The most recent annual report by the National Audubon Society, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting birds and their habitat, is particularly startling. Nearly two-thirds of North American birds studied will go extinct if global warming hits 3 degrees Celsius (5.4˚F) by 2100.

The stark warning follows research published last year by Science that showed the US and Canada had lost 2.9 billion birds since 1970.

“Our findings in this report are the fifth alarm in a five-alarm fire,” says David O’Neill, Audubon’s Chief Conservation Officer, in the study called Survival by Degrees: 389 Bird Species on the Brink.

Electricity generated by fossil-fueled power plants is a leading cause of excessive CO2 in our atmosphere, which is directly linked to climate change.

However, if we can take action now by stabilizing carbon emissions and hold warming to the Paris Accord target of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7˚F) above pre-industrial levels, 76% of the most vulnerable species should survive, and nearly 150 species would no longer be vulnerable to extinction from climate change the study finds.

Learn more @ Audubon