Researcher Uses IPBES Findings in Working Paper on Climate Attribution Science & Endangered Species Act

Description of Impact(s) (English Only) According to the 2019 IPBES Global Assessment, there are presently an estimated one million species that are in danger of going extinct, with climate change playing a significant role in the risk's escalation. Recent studies on the detection and attribution of climate change, which look at how anthropogenic climate change is currently affecting our planet, have shown that habitats and species are already suffering from phenomena like rising land and water temperatures, melting ice and permafrost, sea level rise, more extreme weather events, and other changes in the bioclimatic conditions of particular habitats. Changes in species distribution, phenology, and population dynamics are being driven by these events.

New research by Jessica Wentz, a fellow at the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, Columbia Law School, uses findings from the IPBES Global Assessment in an examination of how the Endangered Species Act (ESA) decision-making process uses research to identify and attribute climate change. Decision-makers can use attribution science to evaluate the extent to which particular species are already in danger due to climate change, identify general trends in how climate change affects species and habitats, and create better management strategies to deal with the risks posed by the phenomenon.