The natural world is extremely vulnerable to climate change, and generally lacks the adaptive capacity of human systems. In a new piece @LaurenRAnders1 and I explore how we might to help nature adapt to the warming we cannot manage to mitigate: thebreakthrough.org/issues/conserv… 1/4
It is important to emphasize that the best way to prevent damages from climate change is to reduce emissions. However, some warming is inevitable, and it is worth planning for how to respond to cases where the international community does not get its act together 2/4
Non-human nature is sharply limited in its capacity to adapt to climate change, and even the best-case mitigation scenarios will put massive pressure on ecosystems. In a 2C world, a full 25 percent of species are at risk of regional extirpation (double that in a 4.5C world). 3/4
Its time to seriously think about the possibility (and real limitations) of direct, technology driven interventions such as translocation, genetic modification, biocontrols, and the use of human infrastructure to support ecosystems. We explore these in detail in the article. 4/4
