emission rates are dramatically reduced
Anticipated future changes are expected to accelerate rapidly including impacts to an additional potential of 62 million square kilometers (24 million square miles) or 42.6 percent of earth's land under `business-as-usual'

Date:
November 1, 2021
Source:
Wildlife Conservation Society
Summary:
A new study that modeled changes in the world's 45 different 'life
zones' from climate change revealed that climate impacts may soon
triple over these areas if the earth continues 'business-as-usual'
emissions.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
A new study from WCS and multiple partners that modeled changes in the
world's 45 different "life zones" from climate change revealed that
climate impacts may soon triple over these areas if the earth continues "business-as-usual" emissions.


==========================================================================
Life zones are distinct biogeographic regions characterized by
biotemperature, precipitation, and aridity representing broad-scale
ecosystem types.

The study revealed that the world's life zones have already changed from
the early 1900s until present day across all biomes, most notably in
Boreal Forests, Temperate Coniferous Forests, and Tropical Coniferous
Forests. This includes impacts to 27 million square kilometers (10.4
million square miles) or 18.3 percent of earth's land. Boundaries
between life zones have shifted poleward and towards higher elevations,
leading to expansions of zones associated with equatorial climates and contractions of zones associated with temperate climates.

Anticipated future changes are expected to accelerate rapidly,
particularly if the world does not act on reducing emissions. This
includes potential impacts to an additional potential of 62 million
square kilometers (24 million square miles) or 42.6 percent of earth's
land under `business-as-usual'.

Life zones associated with subpolar rain tundra, wet tundra, and moist
tundra are projected to experience the largest decreases while tropical
wet forest, tropical rain forest, and cool temperate moist forest are
projected to experience the largest increases. Boreal and polar latitudes
are projected to experience substantial losses of area, although their
vast extent will help compensate for some of these expected losses.

Said Dr. Paul Elsen, WCS Climate Adaptation Scientist and lead author of
the study: "The likely future changes in the world's life zones is likely
to have a substantial impact on people livelihoods and biodiversity. Large areas of the world are getting hotter and drier and this is already
impacting the earth's life zones." Dr. Hedley Grantham, WCS Director
of Conservation Planning and coauthor of the study said: "COP26 is our
best chance of countries committing to reducing emissions and putting
us on a better future pathway for climate change and its impacts."
The study is published in Global Change Biology.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Wildlife_Conservation_Society. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Paul R. Elsen, Earl C. Saxon, B. Alexander Simmons, Michelle
Ward, Brooke
A. Williams, Hedley S. Grantham, Salit Kark, Noam Levin,
Katharina‐Victoria Perez‐Hammerle, April E. Reside,
James E.

M. Watson. Accelerated shifts in terrestrial life zones under rapid
climate change. Global Change Biology, 2021; DOI: 10.1111/gcb.15962 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/11/211101190844.htm

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