Climate change could reduce the "climatic range" of a few hundred bird species, forcing them to find new places to live in the coming century.
A new study from the National Audubon Society, a nonprofit dedicated to birds, calculated that approximately 650 species will be affected,
The New York Times reported. It says that the bald eagle's range, for instance, could shrink up to nearly 75 percent.
"Among the most threatened species are the three-toed woodpecker, the northern hawk owl, the northern gannet, Baird’s sparrow, the rufous hummingbird and the trumpeter swan," wrote the Times. "They are among the 30 species that, by 2050, will no longer be able to live and breed in more than 90 percent of their current territory."
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The study, which is likely to drive donations to the group, bases its predictions on data from the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. It was funded in part by a grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service awarded in 2010, and it currently undergoing peer-review.
"Wherever people live, there will be birds disrupted by climate change," said report author and Audubon chief scientist Gary Langham,
according to USA Today. "This cuts across all species. It's a punch in the gut. The greatest threat our birds face today is global warming."
According to polling firm Gallup, climate change consistently ranks at the bottom of American's level of worry about national problems after more than a dozen other issues, including the economy, federal spending and budget deficit, healthcare, unemployment, size of the federal government, illegal immigration, drug use, etc.
Bloomberg reported last week that top leaders from China and India — who account for nearly a third of global carbon emissions — will not attend the U.N.'s upcoming September 23 climate summit.
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