Frank Furillo
In comparison to direct anthropogenic acts such as overharvesting and land use change that result in habitat loss, climate change has had a comparatively minor impact on ecosystems and biodiversity to date. The negative ecological effects of climate change are becoming more obvious and are very likely to intensify over the coming decades, indicating that their relative importance is shifting. Climate change is increasing precipitation variability and the likelihood of extreme dry and wet events on land, while long-term warming and increasing atmospheric water deficits are raising physiological and hydrological stress, as well as ecosystem flammability. Heat waves are becoming more often in the ocean, and long-term trends of acidity are putting many creatures and ecosystems under stress. Other anthropogenic stressors, such as deforestation, overfishing, invasive species, habitat fragmentation, and direct habitat degradation, interact to increase ecosystem susceptibility to climate change. Both the subtle effects on individual species within complex multi-trophic ecosystems and the more sudden consequences of ecosystem degradation make predicting the patterns and probability of biodiversity loss extremely difficult.
