Climate Change Adaptation and Wildlife

What is it and what can be done?

The evidence that the planet is warming is now unequivocal.  Over the last century the global temperature has risen by over 1.3°F.  In the Northeast the mean annual temperature has risen by more than 1.5°F since the 1970s, while mean winter temperatures have risen by almost 4°F over the same period.  When we project into the future using climate models, we find that that over the remainder of this century we can expect mean annual temperatures in the Northeast to rise by another 5-10°F, bringing our climate close to that currently experienced in New Jersey or North Carolina. And it’s not only temperatures that will change: while our climate models are less definitive about precipitation, it is likely that annual precipitation in the Northeast will increase by about 10% over the next century, extended severe heat waves and droughts will become more frequent, and storms and flooding more severe.

Climate is major determinant of the status and distributions of many species and the integrity of ecosystem processes and we are already seeing clear climate change signals in the planet’s ecosystems, including shifts in the distribution of vulnerable species, changes in the timing of breeding, migration, flowering, and hibernation seasons, species extinctions, and increased frequency and intensity of pest outbreaks. In the Northeast, changes in the migration seasons of fish, longer plant growing season, earlier leaf-out and flowering in plants, and amphibians breeding earlier in the year have already been recorded.

The climate models also tell us that because of the inertia of the “climate machine” even if we were to stop all of our greenhouse gas emissions overnight, the planet’s climate would continue warming for several decades into the future. This, together with the fact that we are already seeing a ecological responses, means that emissions control is not the entire solution to our problem, even though it is crucial. If we are to protect ecosystems from the warming that has already occurred and that will continue to occur we also need to make our conservation management strategies and practices “climate-smart.” 

Mitigation strategies are intended to reduce climate change by limiting the build-up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. On the other hand, adaptation is any action or policy intended to reduce the vulnerability of natural systems to actual or expected climate change effects and can include the following:

• Reducing the effects of non-climate stressors such as contaminants or invasive species
• Promoting or protecting biodiversity
• Establishing plant and wildlife corridors that bridge habitat patches
• Preserving large blocks of habitats and buffer zones
• Proactive habitat management aimed at reducing climate change impacts.

The net effect of these actions will be to increase the resilience of natural systems – that is, to enhance their ability to recover from a climate change impact and return to their natural state. Different strategies will make sense in different situations. In some cases, the best approach will be to employ multiple strategies simultaneously.