The speed of climate change might affect the ability of life on earth to adapt and survive as follows:
Climate change is a phenomenon that includes those alterations in climatic parameters: temperatures, precipitations, diverse climatic phenomena, etc.
Normally these types of changes occur over several centuries, allowing animal and plant species to gradually adapt to new weather conditions.
However, when the climate changes rapidly, ecosystems lose the opportunity to adapt, with the consequence of producing migrations of living beings and even the death of those who for some reason cannot migrate.
When the speed of climate change exceeds the speed of dispersal of organisms, or when there are barriers that prevent such dispersal, species can only adapt or become extinct.
- Regarding individuals, it has been found that climate change could affect their development, physiology and behaviors during the growth, reproduction and migration phases.
- On the other hand, it is also probable that the modification in the precipitation patterns and the increase in temperature affect the distribution, size, structure and abundance of the populations of some species.
- This, added to the effects of climate change on the hydrological cycle, could affect the interactions between species, nutrient cycles and the functioning, structure and distribution of ecosystems.
Therefore, we can conclude that the speed of climate change might affect the ability of life on earth to adapt and survive, causing ecosystems to lose the opportunity to adapt, thus causing changes in the stability and survival of populations.
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