Wildlife and Climate Change Stories

In other words: As ocean temperatures rise and habitats change, will whales, sharks, rays, dolphins, turtles, and other sea creatures adapt or go extinct?

Climate change-related threats to biodiversity are happening now. As habitats change, extreme weather events increase, and temperatures rise, we need new tools to help biodiversity adapt.

Using new technology, like drones and digital tags, researchers have found that nearly every part of the Antarctica peninsula is important for whales’ feeding and resting. But it is also a hotspot for global climate change. WWF is calling for the protection of this remote wilderness in or effort to preserve 30% of the oceans by 2030.

Wild animals are feeling the effects of climate change. WWF’s new Wildlife Adaptation Innovation Fund is testing innovative, on-the-ground projects to help at-risk species adapt.

Throughout the Arctic, melting sea ice is causing Pacific walruses to "haul out" on land in massive groups. To minimize deadly disturbances and minimize human-polar bear conflict, WWF is establishing artificial feeding spots on polar bear routes along the coast of Russia's Chukchi Sea.  

While residents of Sikkim honor the endangered red panda, they also understand the species is under a growing threat. Climate change is impacting species across the globe and red pandas—with less than 10,000 left in the wild—are not immune.

Up to half of plant and animal species in the world’s most naturally rich areas—including the Amazon and the Galápagos—could face extinction by the turn of the century due to climate change if carbon emissions continue to rise unchecked.

January 2018 brought record-low sea ice cover to the Arctic, according to new data released by the US government. That’s bad news for the ocean, wildlife, and local communities that rely on both for survival.

Dozens of fluffy shy albatross chicks sitting on artificial nests are a promising sign for scientists behind an innovative plan to give the vulnerable species a boost to help counteract the negative impacts of climate change.

Because incubation temperature of turtle eggs determines the animal’s sex, a warmer nest results in more females. Increasing temperatures in Queensland’s north, linked to climate change, have led to virtually no male northern green sea turtles being born.

As thousands of walrus come ashore, they congregate in large groups known as “haulouts.” These mass gatherings are dangerous and even deadly for the animals. 

Whales are awe-inspiring and often elusive creatures. Their distribution and critical feeding areas are currently poorly understood, and as climate change and krill fishing increase, our time to learn more about these giant mammals is running out. However, with the help of Dr. Ari Friedlaender, a whale ecologist and National Geographic Explorer, WWF is using whale tagging to discover a wealth of new information.

Climate Crowd, an online platform for crowdsourcing data, helps us learn how rural and indigenous communities around the world are responding to climate change, among other things.

An endangered population of freshwater seals in Finland recently received a lifeline from volunteers in the form of human-made snowbanks.

Who doesn't love the big, burly white bears of the north? Polar bears—at the top of the food chain and vital to the health of the Arctic marine environment—are important to the cultures and economies of Arctic peoples. 

 

The Arctic—home to diverse wildlife and many cultures—is changing faster than any other part of the planet in the face of climate change. But there’s still time left to help the Arctic and the impacts of climate change. Experts agreed on five important ways we can take action.

WWF’s Lou Leonard takes a look at our changing climate and what we can do to face it

Working to nurture more resilient reefs in Belize

Exploring how climate change could impact species around the world

A new plan for resilience in a warming Arctic

Forty percent. That’s the stunning population loss for polar bears in the southern Beaufort Sea. The news comes from a new study linking the dramatic decline in this polar bear subpopulation in northeast Alaska and Canada to a loss of sea ice due to climate change.