• Question: Which animals are most at risk of global warming and are there any that may be able to pull through it?

    Asked by rebeccam to Charlotte, Jo, Kevin, Louise, Valeria on 18 Jun 2012.
    • Photo: Joanna Cruden

      Joanna Cruden answered on 18 Jun 2012:

      we are all at risk but it is difficult to say what animals are at more risk, i guess polar bears and animals who live depend on the ice in the Arctic

    • Photo: Kevin Mahon

      Kevin Mahon answered on 19 Jun 2012:

      Many, many species will pull through it. Animals are by the nature adaptable so we will see some bizarre examples of animals trying to overcome this – barnacles for instance have been shown to be slowly shifting to colder parts of Ireland in response to the gradual temperature change.

      Currently, small mammals are believed to be most at risk from warming – this is because the last time there was a period of warming (12,000 years ago) they were highly disrupted.

      The current warming may push some species to extinction as well destabilizing the food chains and ecosystems of which they are a vital part. Even those that pull through will have long term consequences as their ecosystems lack certain essential species.

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