How climate change threatens different habitats (and why we should care)

I never really thought about how much nature is changing. Everything was just normal for me. A forest is a forest, an ocean is an ocean but now I know that it contributes to the world's health. I hear all the time about climate change and that we are damaging our world. That it even will come to a point that we can't live here anymore and that is wild to me. And also how big of an impact climate has on different habitats on our planets. It is honestly scary how fast things can change and how many animals are struggling because of it.

Take the savanna, for example. Different animals that live there like lions, elephants and zebras are depending on a mix of rainy and dry seasons, but because of the climate changes the dry seasons are much longer than usual. This makes that water is harder to find, grass disappears faster, and animals need to travel so much further just to survive. Some of them end up getting too close to humans which leads to afraid people and conflicts.

The polar regions, especially the Arctic, is probably the most shocking example. So much ice is melting this is not only bad for the penguins and polar bears but also for us. The water level is rising so quickly that some people probably need to move in a few years. It is also bad for the animals there because they need the ice to hunt properly because most of them are not great hunters in the water.

Then you have the oceans, these are heating up. Even if you think it is only a few degrees in like 10 years this is a really big change for the animals over there. It destroys coral reefs and these coral reefs are the home of thousands of fish species. The ocean also becomes acidic because of pollution and this harms the animals like shellfish turtles and sharks.

For me, I think it is an underrated topic to think about or talk about and it really needs human attention. Even though we can't solve everything, we should at least try to care more about the planet. Every small change will help to slow it down.

Written by: Yannick De Ryck

National Geographic. (2023). Deforestation: What is deforestation and how does it impact ecosystems? National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/deforestation

National Geographic. (2022). Heatwave wipes out clownfish in Red Sea reefs. National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/heatwave-wipes-out-clownfish-in-red-sea-reefs

European Environment Agency. (2024). How climate change impacts marine life. https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/analysis/publications/how-climate-change-impacts-marine-life