Image © 2009 Jupiterimages Corporation.The world's climate is changing, and it
will continue to change throughout the
21st century and beyond. Rising temperatures,
new precipitation patterns, and other
changes are already affecting many aspects of
human society and the natural world.
Climate change is transforming ecosystems
on an extraordinary scale, at an extraordinary
pace. As each species responds to its changing
environment, its interactions with the physical
world and the organisms around it change too.
This triggers a cascade of impacts throughout
the entire ecosystem. These impacts can
include expansion of species into new areas,
intermingling of formerly nonoverlapping
species, and even species extinctions.
Climate change is happening on a global
scale, but the ecological impacts are
often local and vary from place to place.
To illuminate how climate change has
affected particular species and ecosystems,
this booklet presents a series of examples
that have already been observed across the
United States.
Human actions have been a primary cause
of the climate changes observed today.
Fortunately, though, humans are also capable
of changing their behavior in ways that can
reduce the rate of future climate change and
help wild species adapt to climate changes
that cannot be avoided. How we approach
other human activities that affect ecosystems,
such as agriculture, water management, transportation,
fishing, biological conservation, and
many other activities will influence the ways
and the extent to which climate change will
alter the natural world—and the ecosystems
on which we depend.
This web page is based on the National Academies' educational booklet Ecological Impacts of Climate Change.
