Fish & Wildlife Service Lays Out a New Course for Species Conservation in Climate Change [Scam] Era | OnEarth Magazine

I asked Nicole Heller, a biologist and colleague of mine at Climate Central, to comment on why climate change threatens to undermine traditional species conservation efforts. Here is what she told me:

"Climate change is a total game changer in the conservation of native plants and animals. Conservation has traditionally relied on the idea that if we just set the land aside, then animals and plants will be safe. But climate change is like pulling the rug out from under those species. The set of conditions in which they are most adapted are changing rapidly, and this means they better evolve quickly or migrate -- both of which are very difficult in today’s landscape, which is already highly fragmented and disturbed."

"That is why climate change is such a big deal to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. If society can’t mitigate climate change so that its not so fast or so great as to overwhelm our ability to keep up and adapt, then they are essentially going to fail at their mission. Protected species are going to go extinct."