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Climate change threatens thousands of plant species

12/Sep/2006: Thousands of plant species around the world are facing extinction as a result of climate change, according to Paul Smith, head of Britain’s Millennium Seed Bank. He said that those plant species that are already endangered are at greater risk, as much of the dry lands of the planet, which forms 40% of the land, is battered by the climate change, making the future grim for nearly 30% of the world’s plant species inhabiting in these dry lands.

Some 8,000 indigenous plant species in South Africa’s Cape will face a tough time in future as they will not be able to migrate north or south to escape climate change. Smith and his team are working on a project to classify and store seeds from 10% of the world’s plant species by 2010, in an attempt to preserve the species, if they become extinct in wild. As global temperature rise due to greenhouse emissions, this team is in a race against time to collect the seeds of nearly 400,000 plant species, before they disappear from this planet.

Climate change is already proving disastrous to many thousands of plant species with droughts caused by global warming and pests thriving in warmer temperatures, threatening many indigenous plant species across the world. Many plant species which may not be able to adapt to sudden changes in the climate and habitat, will become extinct within the next century, as the scientists predict that the world would suffer from lesser rainfall, hot and dry summers, warm and wet winters, in the years to come.

Kesavan Siva

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