The international World Wide Fund for Nature environmental group has released a report that finds several animal and plant species will be wiped out by the end of the next century, because of global warming.

The "Global Warming and Terrestrial Biodiversity Decline" report states that up to one-third of habitats worldwide will be significantly altered because of global warming. This means that unless plant species can adapt rapidly to the new environment, and animal species also adapt or migrate, they may face extinction -- especially in colder northern climates, the New York Times reports.

The report is based on projections that carbon dioxide emission levels in the atmosphere as of 2100 will be double the levels recorded at the start of Industrial Revolution. If these predictions hold, the resulting atmospheric warming may significantly change as much as 70 percent of the world’s natural habitats, and may lead to the extinction of up to 20 percent of species found in the northernmost areas of places like Russia, Scandinavia and Canada, the Times reports.

In America, states such as Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, New Hampshire and Maine would see their existing habitats irrevocably changed. In other parts of the world, Finland, Sweden, Latvia and Iceland -- to name just a few countries -- will also witness devastating environment changes, the Times reports.

Jennifer Morgan, director of the World Wildlife Fund Climate Change Campaign, says species will have to migrate 10 times faster than they have since the last Ice Age in order to survive in the 22nd century, the newspaper reports.

Free registration may be required to view this article:
http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/
global/090100global-climate.html