Climate change, also called global warming refers to a long-term change in the earth’s climate. It is causing an excessive rise in average surface temperature on earth. Human activities such as burning fossil fuels and farming are the main reason behind the cause of climate change. Burning fossils fuels emits carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas which produces “greenhouse effect “. The greenhouse effect makes the earth warmer.

The earth is suffering countless impacts of changing the climate. Ice is melting worldwide, especially at the earth’s poles. Global sea levels are rising 0.13 inches (3.2 millimeters) a year, and the rise is occurring at a faster rate in recent years. The increasing temperatures also bring several other impacts on agriculture, livestock production, economy and livelihood. Besides the above, the warming is also affecting wildlife and their habitats on our planet.

The glorious wildlife cannot escape the manmade effects of climate change. Increasing climate change has begun to affect wildlife across the globe in a rigorous way. They bring many threats like habitat destruction, food shortage, and diseases to wildlife. As a consequence, many animal species are on the brink of extinction and some of them have already vanished from the earth.

The endangered Bramble Cay melomys is a small rodent that lives on a tiny island in the eastern Torres Strait. These species are not sighted from its known location from past many years. Experts believe that they might have vanished from the planet due to increasing climate change. However, this is only one example. Columbia’s Spotted Frogs are the most endangered species of frog among reptile group, American Pika that closely resembles like rabbit is now most threatened and Adélie Penguin, mostly found in the Antarctica is under several threats because of globally rising temperature.

There are numerous other wild species that are surviving under tough situation because of critical level of temperature tolerance capacity. Climate change outcome include longer droughts, changes in rainfall patterns, resulting in more floods, heat waves, storms, rising sea levels and melting glaciers that directly harm wildlife habitats. Nowadays, Nepal is very vulnerable to effects of climate change. Nepal’s wildlife is in massive threats because of rising heat. Human-wildlife conflicts and habitat degradation are the two major problems in our country.

Forests play important ecological role in helping to mitigate climate change. Forest provides homes for many wild species whereas deforestation results in temperature rise and climate change. Nearly 25 per cent of the world’s greenhouse gas is generated from deforestation. Forests have the capacity to store more than double the amount of carbon dioxide than is found in the atmosphere. 
Wild animals are important part of the ecology and they should be given an opportunity to live. Afforestation, use of renewable energy sources, minimizing the use of fossils fuel etc. are the needed steps to combat climate change.

The article was originally published in the Rising Nepal on February 21, 2019. The article was written by myself. -Nishan KC

Photo source: https://www.theglobaleducationproject.org/climate-change/