Key Points
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Climate change is rapidly transforming life for animals across Australia.
Heatwaves, droughts, bushfires and rising seas are pushing wildlife beyond their limits.
From rainforests to reefs, the damage is profound and accelerating.
Without urgent action, Australia faces a future of ecological loss on an unimaginable scale.
Heatwaves Kill Without Warning
Extreme temperatures are already proving deadly.
In 2018, a single Queensland heatwave killed more than 23,000 flying foxes1.
Birds, koalas and reptiles have been found dead beneath trees or collapsed from dehydration.
Climate-driven heat extremes are now occurring more frequently and lasting longer.
Habitats on the Move
As the climate warms, animals must move to stay within liveable temperature zones.
But in fragmented landscapes, that movement can be impossible.
In the Australian Alps, the endangered mountain pygmy-possum is running out of elevation. There’s literally nowhere colder left to go.
Rainforests are also shrinking from the edges, exposing species like tree-kangaroos to drier, more hostile conditions.
Fires and Droughts Devastate Wildlife
Climate change is making bushfires hotter, larger and more frequent.
The 2019–20 Black Summer fires affected an estimated 3 billion animals2.
Koalas, gliders, wallabies and birds perished in the flames or starved afterward due to loss of food and shelter.
Recovery will take decades, if it happens at all.
Meanwhile, longer droughts are drying rivers and wetlands, threatening frogs, fish and birds that depend on reliable water sources.
Oceans in Crisis
Warming oceans are bleaching the Great Barrier Reef and displacing marine species.
Coral bleaching has now occurred in seven of the past eleven years3.
Fish are migrating southwards, disrupting entire marine food chains.
Even sea turtles are affected, with warmer sands producing mostly female hatchlings, skewing reproductive balance.
Food Chains Falling Apart
As flowering times shift, animals and insects that rely on nectar and pollen are being left behind.
Insects, the foundation of many food webs, are declining due to heat stress and drought.
This spells trouble for birds, reptiles, frogs and mammals alike.
Endangered Species on the Brink
Climate change adds new stress to already endangered species.
Frogs like the northern corroboree frog, birds like the western ground parrot, and mammals like the Leadbeater’s possum are running out of time and habitat.
Many live in niche environments that can't adapt quickly, or at all, to rising temperatures and shifting seasons.
Isolation and Inbreeding
As species become trapped in shrinking pockets of suitable habitat, genetic isolation increases.
Small, inbred populations are less resilient and less able to adapt to a changing climate.
What follows is a spiral toward extinction.
The Verdict
Australia is a global biodiversity hotspot.
But climate change is now the biggest driver of biodiversity loss.
Without dramatic cuts to emissions and large-scale habitat protection, Australia faces an extinction crisis that will define its ecological legacy.