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Defenders Magazine
Defenders in Action: Winning the War Against Global Warming
on Arctic species such as the polar bear as a part
of its campaign to prompt action on global warming.
While the world works together to curb the pollution that causes global warming, Defenders is determined to help vulnerable species hang on in the meantime.
"With an estimated 41 percent of all plant and wildlife species impacted by climate change, we consider it to be among the greatest conservation threats to our natural world," says Jamie Rappaport Clark, executive vice president of Defenders of Wildlife.
In her testimony before the U.S. Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee in February, Clark noted that as the planet warms, the habitat occupied by particular species shifts as well. Typically, it moves northward and inland. "For some species already on the edge, these shifts could spell extinction," Clark says. "For example, it is expected that the Arctic Ocean will be largely devoid of sea ice in the summer later this century, which means that species such as polar bears, ivory gulls, walruses and ice-dwelling seals will find their habitat literally melted away."
To call attention to these significant changes and prompt action, Defenders in January began issuing a series of monthly reports on Arctic species threatened by global warming, such as polar bears, ivory gulls and wolverines. These reports outline specific steps that need to be taken by scientists and public officials to help each species navigate through the complex threats posed by global warming.
On Capitol Hill, Defenders also supports the Sanders-Boxer Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act (S. 309), introduced earlier this year. "This is a forward-looking bill guided by scientific evidence that sets firm emission reduction requirements from multiple sectors," says Robert Dewey, Defenders’ vice president for government relations. "Defenders supports the bill’s goals of preventing average global temperatures from increasing more than 3.6 degrees F above pre-industrial levels and stabilizing atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide below 450 parts per million, two critical ecological thresholds scientists have identified for avoiding the worst effects of global warming."
The bill also mandates greater reliance on clean, renewable energy sources and improved energy efficiency. "These are solutions that will have far-reaching positive changes, such as reducing air pollution, creating new jobs and reducing our dependence on oil," says Dewey.
