National Audubon Society’s Survival by Degrees: 389 Bird Species on the Brink report, released in October 2019, indicated that future climate change will put two-thirds of birds in North America at risk of extinction due to projected range losses. Of the 604 species analyzed, none were projected to remain untouched by either climate-driven range loss or extreme weather, sea level rise, or other climate change-related threats.
Now Audubon’s new Natural Climate Solutions Report shows that habitats that are important for birds now and in the future are also critical to reducing greenhouse emissions given their ability to naturally store and sequester carbon. This means that maintaining and restoring these landscapes through incentives for management and conservation are important strategies in our collective challenge to stabilize climate change.
The report found that by conserving, managing, and restoring ecosystems across the country that are critical to both carbon storage and to birds, the U.S. could realize up to 23% of its Paris Agreement commitment to reduce emissions.
As the Director of Climate Science at the National Audubon Society, Dr. Brooke Bateman collaborates with scientists, volunteers, and Audubon’s Climate Initiative team to develop research focused on climate and the conservation of birds and the places they need today and in the future. In this role she led a team of scientists in developing Survival by Degrees. As director of Climate Watch, she works with community volunteers to understand how climate change currently affects birds in North America. Her research focus is on spatial ecology and conservation, emphasizing the effect that extreme weather events and climate change have on biodiversity. Brooke works closely with on-the-ground practitioners and stakeholders to link climate research to on-the-ground conservation and management actions.