10 Of The Cutest Animals Threatened By Climate Change
You've heard the phrase "save the bees" and seen the photos of starving polar bears, but those are only two of one million species on the planet slated for extinction.
According to a recent UN report, more than one million plant and animal species face extinction as a result of both global warming and human practices such as farming, hunting, fishing, logging, etc.
The New York Times article on the report cites the experts' conclusion that "piecemeal efforts to protect individual species or to set up wildlife refuges will no longer be sufficient. Instead, they call for "transformative changes" that include curbing wasteful consumption, slimming down agriculture's environmental footprint and cracking down on illegal logging and fishing." This means that everyone, consumers and corporations alike, must make changes for the sake of the world's survival.
So, if climate change isn't usually an issue you're concerned about or you need some extra motivation to reduce your waste, keep in mind these ten adorable animals that aren't likely to survive global climate change unless we make drastic changes. Do it for them!
Of course, these are just ten of the one million species that the UN report predicts will go extinct as a result of climate change. "Nature and its vital contributions to people, which together embody biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services, are deteriorating worldwide," reads the report. We have to work together as nations to save human and non-human species alike. We make up one world, and we're all responsible for its fate.
