Reprinted with permission by Dr. James Hansen from his website at Columbia University

This article is part of the new version of the biannual “State of The Wild: 2008-2009, published by the Wildlife Conservation Society. “State of the Wild is a collection of evocative essays featuring emerging issues in the conservation of wildlife and wild places. The book brings together international conservation experts and writers to analyze our time’s most pressing environmental topics. Seeking to broaden awareness of major trends that are affecting the state of the wild across all continents, it also includes a catalog of the year’s research, rulings, and events.”

“Animals are on the run. Plants are migrating too.”1 I wrote those words in 2006 to draw attention to the fact that climate change was already under way. People do not notice climate change because it is masked by day-to-day weather fluctuations, and we reside in comfortable homes. Animals and plants, on the other hand, can survive only within certain climatic conditions, which are now changing. (more…)