{"id":25746,"date":"2021-02-05T10:23:30","date_gmt":"2021-02-05T14:23:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=25746"},"modified":"2021-02-06T15:47:37","modified_gmt":"2021-02-06T19:47:37","slug":"effects-of-global-warming-on-animals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/effects-of-global-warming-on-animals\/","title":{"rendered":"The Effects of Global Warming on Animals in the Tropics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What are the effects of global warming<\/a> on animals in the tropics? Why do researchers project the tropical species to be more affected by climate change than their cold-climate counterparts?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most people think of global warming primarily as a threat to cold-climate species such as polar bears, penguins, and seals. However, the effects of global warming on animals in the tropics are projected to be even more drastic, according to researchers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep reading to learn about the effects of global warming on animals in the tropics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The Effects of Global Warming on Animals in the Tropics<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Most people think of global warming primarily as a threat to cold-climate species such as polar bears, penguins, and seals. Their worlds are changing dramatically as polar sea ice declines and gets thinner. And as the ice declines, the larger areas of open water absorb more heat, which melts more ice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But according to researchers, the effects of global warming <\/strong>on animals in the tropics will be even greater because that’s where most species live. In Canada\u2019s boreal forest of nearly a billion acres, there are only about twenty species of trees. In the U.S., eastern deciduous forests contain fifty to two hundred species. In contrast, Belize, in Central America, has some 700 native tree species. Manu National Park, in the Andes of Peru, is a forest reserve where researchers have counted more than a thousand species of trees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same pattern\u2014fewer species in cold climates and many more in warmer climates\u2014applies to birds, butterflies, frogs, and fungi. Biodiversity is lowest at the poles and increases as you go from the poles to the equator. There are three theories for why more species live in tropical rainforests:<\/p>\n\n\n\n