This forecast does not look good.<\/p>\n
Archaeologists might need to locate Noah\u2019s lost ark sooner than we think. <\/p>\n
By 2085, over a third of all land animals\u2019 habitats could be adversely impacted by extreme weather events such as fires and floods, should temperatures continue to surge worldwide, per an alarming study in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution. <\/a><\/p>\n If we don\u2019t reverse course, this \u201cDay After Tomorrow\u201d-esque confluence of events could potentially expedite extinctions. <\/p>\n A torrent of water flows along the river Bela during heavy rain on September 14, 2024 in Mikulovice, Czech Republic. Getty Images<\/p>\n A chart detailing the effect that these weather affects can have on wildlife across the globe. Stefan Lange<\/p>\n \u201cI think climate change, and in particular extreme events, are still really being underestimated when it comes to conservation planning,\u201d declared head author Stefanie Heinicke, a postdoctoral researcher at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Phys.org reported.<\/a> \u201cIt\u2019s not just going to be a gradual shift of temperature over many years.\u201d<\/p>\n Heinicke was part of a team of 18 international researchers who set out to gauge climate changes affect on global biodiversity.<\/p>\n To determine its impact, these apocalyptic meteorologists used climate impact projections and species habitat data to predict \u201cchanges in exposure to droughts, heatwaves, river floods and wildfires\u201d for ecosystems around the world.<\/p>\n A firefighting helicopter drops water as the Palisades fire grows near the Mandeville Canyon neighborhood and Encino, California, on January 11, 2025. AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n These forecasts spanned a staggering \u201c33,936 terrestrial vertebrate species and 794 ecoregions.\u201d <\/p>\n The scientists found that if the warming continues at this rate, by 2050, 74% of current animal habitats on land will be exposed to heat waves, 16% to wildfire, 8% to droughts and 3% to river floods. <\/p>\n An recently burned area at the Encontro das Aguas park at the Pantanal wetlands near Pocone, Mato Grosso state, Brazil. AP<\/p>\n This Biblical phenomenon will effect essential biospheres in the Amazon basin, Africa and Southeast Asia.<\/p>\n And that\u2019s just the tip of the iceberg. According to these models, \u201c36% of the area within species\u2019 ranges are projected to be exposed\u201d to the aforementioned perfect storm in less than 60 years.<\/p>\n This method was groundbreaking in that it highlighted which weather events were the most harmful to wildlife with scientists finding that fires ranked more dangerous than droughts in this regard.<\/p>\n Debris left by floods in Kerrville, Texas in 2025. \u201cI think climate change, and in particular extreme events, are still really being underestimated when it comes to conservation planning,\u201d declared head author Stefanie Heinicke, a postdoctoral researcher at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) Getty Images<\/p>\n We don\u2019t have too look to models to see how devastating the effects can be. <\/p>\n