Beyond cutting emissions: protecting wildlife and ecosystems in a warming world
Global warming confronts policymakers with two significant and serious challenges to wildlife and ecosystem conservation and the web of life on which we all depend. The first, reducing levels of heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions, has at last begun to receive significant and much-needed attention from the public and in the halls of Congress. The second, helping species and ecosystems survive and adapt to a warming world, has received far less attention. Beyond Cutting Emissions focuses on the second of these two challenges. It details the enormous magnitude of anticipated impacts and the extent to which they will affect the natural ecosystems that provide essential life-support services, drive local economies, yield discoveries that lead to medical innovations, and enhance the quality of life.