In a new study, scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society, the University of Queensland and Stanford University mapped Earth's regions and ecosystems most vulnerable to climate change.
The study was published online in the journal Climate Change, and identified regions like southern and south-eastern Asia, western and central Europe, eastern South America and southern Australia to be more vulnerable to climate changes.
"We need to realize that climate change is going to impact ecosystems both directly and indirectly in a variety of ways and we can't keep on assuming that all adaptation actions are suitable everywhere," Dr. James Watson, Director of WCS's Climate Change Program and lead author of the Nature study, said in a statement.
According to the authors of the study, while the government is bound to allocate appropriate resources to these regions to cope with climatic changes, it is important to make clever investments and adopt appropriate strategies to tackle this problem worldwide. They hope that the analysis and mapping in this study can help in complicated decisions on where limited resources can do the most good.
The aim of the study was to help governments, environmental agencies and donors identify and locate key areas where to best invest in protected area establishment as well as restoration methods. It likewise enlists conservation activities in saving ecosystems that will help yield the biggest return on investment to both wildlife and people.
"Effective conservation strategies must anticipate not only how species and habitats will cope with future climate change, but how humans will respond to these challenges," Dr John Robinson, executive vice president for Conservation and Science, said. "To that end, maintaining the integrity of the world's ecosystems will be the most important means of safeguarding the natural world and our own future."
