Extinction risk from climate change
risk of species becoming extinct due to the effects of global warming
There are several plausible pathways that could lead to plant and animal species extinction from climate change. Every species has evolved to exist within a certain ecological niche, but climate change leads to changes of temperature and average weather patterns. These changes can push climatic conditions outside of the species' niche, and ultimately render it extinct. Normally, species faced with changing conditions can either adapt in place through microevolution or move to another habitat with suitable conditions. However, the speed of recent climate change is very fast. Due to this rapid change, for example cold-blooded animals (a category which includes amphibians, reptiles and all invertebrates) may struggle to find a suitable habitat within 50 km of their current location at the end of this century (for a mid-range scenario of future global warming).
Climate change also increases both the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, which can directly wipe out regional populations of species. Those species occupying coastal and low-lying island habitats can also become extinct by sea level rise. This has already happened with Bramble Cay melomys in Australia, which was the first mammal to go extinct due to human-induced sea level rise, with the Australian government officially confirming its extinction in 2019.
Climate change has been linked with the increased prevalence and global spread of infectious diseases affecting wildlife.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Extinction risk from climate change” as risk of species becoming extinct due to the effects of global warming. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the science & nature register because the source frames it as risk of species becoming extinct due to the effects of global warming. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5422084. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2019.
Current terminology should not be projected backward without checking the classification used when the underlying evidence was created. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Extinction risk from climate change” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.