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Beluga Whale
Beluga whales are commonly found
across the Arctic Ocean in the coastal waters of North America, Russia
and Greenland. The worldwide population of this species of toothed
whales is estimated to be around 150,000. Rapidly melting sea ice and
increased maritime traffic pose threats to the survival of beluga whales
and also impacts marine ecosystems. In 2008, these marine mammals were
listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN)
Red List as being "near endangered," while the subpopulation from the
Cook Inlet in Alaska, are listed under "critically endangered" species
and protected by the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Tim Clayton/Corbis/Getty Images
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Tiger
The wild tiger can be found
across Africa and Asia. The population of the largest cat species had
dropped to 3,200 (2010) due to poaching, global warming, habitat loss
and habitat fragmentation. The rising level of sea water in the
Sundarbans regions can lead to further loss of habitat. Sustained
conservation efforts are being made to save the species and hence in
2016, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) declared that count of wild tigers
across the globe has increased to 3,890. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
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Snow Leopard
The species is found mainly in
the mountain ranges of Central and South Asia. Global warming causes the
tree line to move higher up the mountains in the Himalayas, resulting
in the shrinking of not just their habitat but also that of their prey.
The population of snow leopards is currently estimated to be around
4,500 to 7,500. James Devaney/WireImage/Getty Images
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Flamingo
There are total six species of
flamingos in the world, four in the Americas and two in Africa, Europe,
and Asia. These long-legged "wading birds" are not endangered, but are
listed in CITES Appendix II that lists species that require protection
and are believed to be under threat or are likely to become endangered.
The Chilean flamingo is the most numerous of the South American
flamingos with an estimated total population of not more than 200,000,
while the population of James' flamingo is estimated to be 64,000. PhotoPlus Magazine/Getty Images
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Whooping Crane
With a total population
accounting for 603 birds as on February 2015, the whooping cranes - so
called for its whooping sound - are found mainly in North America. Dry
weather and drought affect their sources of food and lead to poor
breeding. Rising ocean levels pose a threat to the survival of whopping
cranes. Conservation efforts have been made but nothing significant has
been achieved so far. Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images
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Giant Panda
Native to south and central
China, giant pandas have been declared to be critically endangered by
the IUCN. According to experts, their population is likely to drop
vastly by 2020, owing to depletion of their main source of food - bamboo
- with climate change being the reason. The plant's reproductive cycle
spread over unusually long intervals makes it unsuitable to adapt to
changing climate conditions. Conservation efforts are being made to help
pandas overcome predicted bamboo famine. Currently, 864 giant pandas
are estimated to be left in China. Mohd Rasfan/AFP/Getty Images
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Koala
Koalas are native to Australia
and herbivores. The total population of the species is estimated between
45,000 and 90,000, according to Australian Koala Foundation (AKF). With
increasing droughts and bushfires caused due to climate change, the
already challenged population of Koalas is expected to drop further. Ian Waldie/Getty Images
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Asian Rhino
One-horned rhinos are mainly
found in Northern India and Nepal. Changing seasonal patterns with
irregular monsoon cycles and increasing droughts have upset the
vegetation health that the vulnerable species feeds on. As of 2015, the
population of the species is about 3,500. Biju Boro/AFP/Getty Images
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African Elephant
The large terrestrial African
elephant is worst affected by floods, droughts and wildfires caused due
to climate change. Irregular weather patterns affect the level of sea
water and forces the elephants to travel far away to unprotected areas
in search of water, this leads to poaching when they come in contact
with human population. In 2014, the population of African elephants was
estimated to be around 700,000, as per the WWF. Jan Hrbacek / Barcroft Media /Getty Images
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Orangutan
The species are already
endangered owing to oil palm plantations that are made by destroying
their natural habitat in the forests. These apes that are native to
Indonesia and Malaysia are further threatened due to rising temperature
levels and declining rainfall levels leading to unprecedented droughts
and forest fires. Currently, the population of the Bornean orangutan is
estimated to about 45,000-69,000 and that of the Sumatran orangutan to
be about 7,500. Juan Mabromata/AFP/Getty Images
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Caribou
The endangered species - also
classified as reindeer - are found in North America, Greenland and parts
of Europe and Asia. It is listed under IUCN. Professor Russell Graham,
associate professor of geosciences and director of the Earth and Mineral
Sciences Museum at Penn State University, U.S. believes that global
warming will affect animals living in the coldest regions tremendously.
Their insulated fur and sweat glands that help them survive harsh
winters render them particularly unfit for hotter months. G. Cappelli/Rex Shutterstock
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Cheetah
The world's fastest animal can be
found in various parts of Africa and Asia. According to scientists at
the National Museums of Kenya (NMK) and the Kenya Wildlife Service, the
ability to reproduce is declining among the African cheetah due to
global warming. Approximately, 9,000 to 12,000 cheetahs are left in
Africa. Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty Images
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Frog
These creatures found from the
tropics to subarctic regions have cold blood and thin skin and, even
minor changes in temperatures can be life threatening. Depletion of
rainforests is therefore a contributing factor to their degeneration.
According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, more than 6,000 of this
species are at risk of extinction. Waring Abbott/Getty Images
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Sea Otter
Sea otters are found across the
coasts of the northern and eastern North Pacific Ocean. Apart from being
hunted for their fur, the animals also face threat to their survival
due to climate change leading to changes in ocean temperature.
Currently, the worldwide population is accounted to be about 106,000. PM/AP Images |
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Northern hairy-nosed Wombat
These marsupials are found across
south-eastern Australia. Increasing number of droughts driven by
climate change account for the dwindling population of these Northern
hairy-nosed wombats. As of 2010, there are 163 Northern hairy-nosed
wombats on the planet. DEA / C.DANI / I.JESKE/De Agostini/Getty Images
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American Pika
The American Pika, which belongs
to the rabbit family, is mainly found in western North America.
According to the IUCN Red List, the animal is not considered threatened,
near-threatened or conservation dependent. However, It is being
considered for protection under the Endangered Species Act by the
Wildlife Service due to global warming, which is one of the most
important factors contributing to their decline in numbers. They are
used to cold alpine climes and can die if exposed to heat. Currently,
the population of the American Pika is around 1.8 million. Arterra/UIG via Getty Images
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Musk Oxen
The species can be found in the
Canadian Arctic and Greenland, and small populations in Sweden, Siberia,
Norway and Alaska. These animals are used to living in the coldest
regions and hence their distribution is adversely affected due to global
warming. Currently, the population of musk oxen is somewhere between
80,000 and 125,000. Mark Thiessen/AP Images
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Polar Bear
Polar bears spend most of their
time on the ice to hunt for their main source of food – seal. But when
ice rapidly melts due to rising temperatures, they tend to spend less
time on ice and more time on dry land in search of alternate food
sources. According to experts, there are approximately 22,000 to 31,000
polar bears left in the world. Photos_martYmage/iStock/Getty Images
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Galapagos Penguin
The Galapagos penguins are among
the smallest species of penguin in the world and is the most distinctive
as it lives further north than other penguin species. They are
considered endangered with less than 2,000 left. According to the World
Wildlife Fund, almost half of the population has been wiped out due to
severe El Niño weather conditions over the last few decades. Danita Delimont/Gallo Images/Getty Images
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Tufted Puffin
The tufted puffin is a seabird
native to North America. This species of seabirds feed primarily by
diving in the water and breed in large colonies. However, due to the
warming temperatures, there has been a decline in the growth rates of
puffin nestlings. The WWF believes that breeding may decrease further if
climate change continues to get worse. According to the North American
Waterbird Conservation Plan, around 2,750,000 to 3,000,000 tufted
puffins are left in the world. RONSAN4D/iStock/Getty Images
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Ringed Seal
Ringed seals, the smallest seal
species, live in the Arctic sea where they rely on the ice pack for
their food source. The ringed seal newborns spend the first few weeks in
the snow to protect them from freezing and predators. When there is
less snow, the newborns are that much more vulnerable to those
predators. Four subspecies of the ringed seal are listed as endangered
or threatened. Franco Banfi/WaterFrame/Getty Images
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Sea Turtle
Over half of the existing species
of sea turtles are already classified as endangered. Two of the common
reasons that have led to this extinction are rising temperatures and
rising sea levels. The temperature of the nest determines the sex of a
sea turtle – cooler temperatures produce male eggs and warmer
temperatures produce female eggs - some turtle nests are already
producing almost 90 percent females. In addition, greater erosion of our
beaches provide less safe haven for the eggs to hatch. Tbanny/iStock/Getty Images |
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North Atlantic Right Whale
Listed as endangered since the
1970s, the North Atlantic right whale migrates along the eastern coast
of the U.S. Changes in seawater temperatures have limited the amount of
zooplankton in the oceans, a staple food of this whale species. It is
estimated that there are fewer than 500 of these whales left and if
their primary food source continues to disappear, it could affect the
species' ability to survive. The total population of the species is
believed to be around 450. David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
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Lobster
Lobsters are cold-blooded and
their body temperature is dependent on the water in which they live.
High water temperature makes them use more energy for breathing, which
leave their bodies stressed and with less energy for other activities
such as feeding, growth, energy storage, immune response and
reproduction. In addition, warming waters harbor bacteria that are
harmful to lobsters and scientists are seeing an increase in shell
disease among lobsters. Don Johnston/All Canada Photos/Getty Images |
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Orange-spotted filefish
The orange-spotted filefish are
completely dependent on the coral reefs where they live – the same coral
reefs that are now in danger due to coral bleaching. This species is
also very sensitive to warm waters. In fact, the fish is locally extinct
in Japan because of warm ocean temperatures. Nicola Guaiana/EyeEm/Getty Images |
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Atlantic cod
In recent years, there has been a
major decline in the number of Atlantic cod due to over-fishing.
However, warmer water temperatures has also led to the decline. Doug Allan/Getty Images
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Ivory Gulls
The number of ivory gulls has
gone down over the years due to decline in sea ice. These gulls nest on
rocky cliffs and fly to the sea ice in search of fish. But when sea ice
melts away, the coastal nesting sites are severely affected. In fact,
the number of ivory gulls in Canada has already decreased by 90 percent
over the last 20 years. In 2012, the global population of ivory gulls
was estimated to be between 19,000 and 27,000. Michael S. Nolan/Age fotostock/Getty Images
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Walrus
Walruses use the ice edge in
coastal areas as platforms to dive and feed on clams. But when the ice
melts due to drop in temperature they have to go to deeper areas and
sometimes even travel on floating ice in search of food. Currently, the
global population of walruses is estimated to be 250,000. Wildestanimal/Moment/Getty Images
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Dugong
The main food source for the
marine herbivorous mammal dugong is seagrass beds. But due to cyclones,
floods and heavy rainfall, the seagrass beds are disappearing leaving
less food for the dugong. According to WWF, there are about 85,000
dugongs currently in Australia. Auscape/Universal Images Group/Getty Images
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Coral
Rising ocean temperatures are causing a phenomenon called 'coral bleaching' in our ocean's coral reefs. Coral bleaching occurs when the warming waters cause so much stress on the corals that they expel the algae that provides them most of their food. Scientists in Australia are seeing an unprecedented 50 percent mortality rate in the coral reef near Cape York due to this. Daniela Dirscherl/WaterFrame/Getty Images
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Spectacled Eider
Spectacled eider are large ducks
that breed on the coastline. In winter, they gather in a small, cold,
and nutrient-rich area of the Bering Sea, where they dive for clams and
other marine life. But climate warming holds a potential threat to these
birds and their habitat. As per the Winter surveys in the Bering Sea,
the minimum worldwide population of spectacled eiders is about 370,000. Mike Powles/Oxford Scientific/Getty Images
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Laysan Albatross
More than 90 percent of the
Laysan albatross live in the northwestern Hawaiian Islands. The large
birds travel through strong winds and cover hundreds of miles in a day. A
major threat to these seabirds is the rising sea-levels that flood
their nesting grounds. In 2006, it was estimated that 1,180,000 mature
Laysan albatross birds are left. PilipenkoD/iStock/Getty Images
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