3 Effects of Climate Change You Haven't Heard Of

1. At least one-fifth of the world’s lizard population could disappear.

More than 12% of the lizard population in Mexico has gone extinct since 1975, according to the research Geographical cites; projections for the future look much worse. At least 39% of the world’s lizards–especially those who bear live young– could disappear by 2080 due to increasing temperatures.

2. Declines in agricultural productivity could result in mass Mexican migration to the US.

Climate change won’t affect non-human animal populations alone. Human communities will be affected profoundly, too.

In its October 2010 issue, Geographical’s Kara Moses, citing research done at Princeton University, stated that “A warming climate could cause mass migration of Mexicans into the USA.” As crop yields drop due to climate change, farmers and other workers in the agricultural industry will be forced to migrate. Moses added, “Under current predictions for the range of climatic variations, this could mean between 1.4 million and 6.7 million Mexicans–up to 10 percent of the current adult population–migrating… in the next 70 years.”

Migration isn’t the only consequence affecting humans; Geographical also reported that civil war is likely to occur in Africa as the Earth heats up and water supplies diminish. The research cited indicated that the likelihood of civil war increases at least 55% if current climate change projections are realized.

3. Primate communities could collapse as their “time budgets” are re-alloted.

If you’ve ever watched primates at the zoo, they seem to spend their time engaged in a couple key activities: eating, hanging out (literally), and grooming one another. Researchers from Bournemouth and Oxford predict that if temperatures continue rising, apes will be forced to spend more time on “basic survival,” and will have less time for socializing. Socializing, the researchers explain, is actually a critical function of daily living for apes; it helps keep groups together. As socialization breaks down, so too will the overall primate population.

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Community Connection:

Read more about climate change by browsing the articles on Matador’s Global Environmental Issues Focus Page.