Climate change - Artensterben

Plant Blindness: Zwergkrug (Cephalotus follicularis)

The Albany pitcher plant (Cephalotus follicularis) from Western Australia belongs to an evolutionarily unique plant lineage with no close relatives. This carnivorous plant catches insects with pitcher-shaped pitfall traps—and perhaps for that very reason shows how often people only notice plants when they seem to have "animal-like" traits. Image: chum_, CC BY-NC 4.0, via iNaturalist

17. May 2026 Doreen Fräßdorf

Plant blindness: Why plant extinction often goes unnoticed

Many people barely notice plants consciously. On a theater stage, they would in a sense be the backdrop, while animals would stand in the foreground as the actual actors. Plants often appear only as a “green mass”, not as living beings in their own right, with individual species, complex adaptations

Vegetation fires are among the extreme events becoming more frequent and intense due to climate change, often with far-reaching consequences for entire animal communities. Image: Depositphotos (Kooperation)

30. April 2026 Doreen Fräßdorf

Climate change study: how extreme events are increasing and animals will increasingly be affected multiple times

During an extreme heatwave in Australia, more than 72,000 flying foxes died within just a few days. The devastating Pantanal fires of 2019/20 are estimated to have killed 17 million vertebrates. Such events are no longer isolated cases. A new study, published in Nature Ecology & Evolution and led by

IUCN-Update: Antarktis-Bewohner leiden unter Klimawandel: Kaiserpinguin, Antarktischer Seebär, Südlicher See-Elefant

Emperor penguin, Antarctic fur seal and southern elephant seal: these three Antarctic species were reassessed by the IUCN, with the first two now classified as Endangered (EN) and the third as Vulnerable (VU)—a clear signal of the growing impacts of climate change. (© Wikimedia Commons – Pinguin: Ian Duffy UK, CC BY 2.0 / Seebär: Winky from Oxford, CC BY 2.0 / See-Elefant: Colorado State University Libraries, CC BY-SA 4.0)

11. April 2026 Doreen Fräßdorf

IUCN warns: Climate change threatens emperor penguins, fur seals and elephant seals in the Southern Ocean

Antarctica and the adjacent subantarctic regions are no longer stable ecosystems. Climate change is causing sea ice to shrink, ocean temperatures to rise and food webs to falter—with direct consequences for the wildlife of the Southern Ocean. New IUCN assessments make it clear that even species adapted to extreme conditions,

Wind power – a threat to birds, bats, and insects?

A bird in an agricultural landscape in front of wind turbines: Local risks are weighed against global climate and biodiversity effects. ( © Canva Pro)

22. January 2026 Doreen Fräßdorf

Between wildlife conservation and climate protection: Does wind power harm birds, bats and insects?

Wind turbines are a key pillar of the energy transition. They generate electricity without burning fossil fuels and therefore help reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and curb climate change. During operation they produce neither CO₂ emissions nor air pollutants, require little water, and today rank among the most cost-effective forms of electricity

Southern elephant seals are an example of how species were pushed to the brink of extermination by climate change and human impacts. Image: Jerzy Strzelecki, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

26. March 2025 Doreen Fräßdorf

Climate change & extinction: what elephant seals and current climate research teach us about Earth’s future

Climate change is among the greatest threats of our time—with far-reaching consequences for our health, economic stability, and biological diversity. Two current scientific studies show what disturbing effects unchecked global warming could have on ecosystems and life on Earth—and why we urgently need to act. Elephant seals as witnesses of

Betroffen vom Schmetterlingssterben in den USA: der Monarchfalter

The monarch butterfly is one of the most threatened butterfly species in North America. Because of habitat loss, pesticide use and climate change, its populations have declined drastically in recent decades. (© Kenneth Dwain Harrelson, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

7. March 2025 Doreen Fräßdorf

New study on insect decline: butterflies in the USA reduced by 22%

A long-term study published in November had already documented the drastic decline of butterflies in Central Europe. Now a comprehensive study by Washington State University in Vancouver, USA, confirms that butterfly populations are also rapidly dwindling in North America. Between 2000 and 2020, the total number of butterflies counted declined

As tundra lichens disappear and temperatures rise, caribou are increasingly under pressure. Their populations have fallen by 65 percent in recent decades. (© Dean Biggins (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

4. February 2025 Doreen Fräßdorf

Arctic: Why the ice is melting and CO₂ emissions are rising

The Arctic, once a stable store of organic carbon, is now releasing more carbon dioxide (CO₂) than it absorbs. According to the latest NOAA Arctic Report Card 2024, thawing permafrost, increased microbial activity, and more frequent wildfires are chiefly responsible for this development. The Arctic, which long acted as a

11 animals that have become extinct in the last 50 years

In the last 50 years, we have lost numerous animal species forever – a testament to the destructive consequences of how we treat nature.

28. January 2025 Doreen Fräßdorf

11 animals we lost in the last 50 years

The extinction of animal species is one of the most tragic consequences of human interference in nature. It not only means the irreversible loss of unique living beings, but also the collapse of ecosystems whose stability depends on these species. Estimates suggest that around 500 to 1,000 known animal species

Truffles (Gallacea scleroderma) and moas

Gallacea scleroderma: a truffle-like fungus endemic to New Zealand whose spores were once dispersed by moas and which plays a central role in the forest ecosystem. (© Zac Sanson, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

17. January 2025 Doreen Fräßdorf

What links extinct moas, colorful truffles, and climate change?

New Zealand, known for its unique wildlife and flora, holds many secrets from the past. One of them was revealed by a recent study in Biology Letters: the extinct upland moas (Megalapteryx didinus) were not only majestic birds, but also played a central role in dispersing colorful, truffle-like fungi such

Climate change plays an important role in the destruction of natural habitats, for example by contributing to devastating fires in Australia or the Amazon. Image: CSIRO, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

6. December 2024 Doreen Fräßdorf

Climate change and extinction: one third of species could soon disappear

Since the end of the 19th century, Earth has warmed by about 1.3 degrees Celsius. This seemingly small change has already had profound effects on life on our planet. Some species have managed to adapt: birds have become smaller, lizards and insects have changed their colors, and many animals have