Washington: There are several animals that are at the risk of extinction because of climate change, and monkeys living in South America are among these.
According to researchers, a substantial temperature increase may lead to monkeys’ extinction.
The study published in the journal of Global Change Biology found that a large percentage of non-human primates including monkeys, lemurs, and apes are facing substantial temperature increases and marked habitat changes over the next 30 years.
The research, led by Dr Joana Carvalho said that new world monkeys which live primarily in tropical South America will be particularly affected.
“Based on our analysis, it is clear that new world monkeys, in particular, can be considered highly vulnerable to projected temperature increases, consequently facing an elevated risk of extinction,” said Dr Carvalho.
The study examined all 426 species of non-human primates contained within the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List database and examined their exposure risk to changes in climatic and land use conditions forecast for the year 2050. The authors considered the best-case scenario slowly declining emissions, with appropriate mitigation measures put in place and the worst-case scenario, assuming that emissions continue to increase unchecked.
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