Context: According to a new study, many animals and plants unique to the world’s most scenic natural places face extinction if greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise.

• If countries reduce emissions in line with the Paris Agreement, then most endemic species will survive, the analysis found.
• In total, just 2% of endemic land species and 2% of endemic marine species face extinction at 1.5°C, and 4% of each at 2°C.

Key highlights of the study

• Climate change will negatively affect most native and endemic species — those that are only found in very specific places.

In particular, the analysis shows that all endemic species from islands and more than four out of five endemic species from mountains are at high risk of extinction due to climate change alone.

• If the planet heats by over 3°C, then a third of endemic species living on land, and about half of endemic species living in the sea, face extinction.
• On mountains, 84% of endemic animals and plants face extinction at these temperatures, while on islands that number rises to 100%.

Endemic species threatened by climate change include lemurs, which are unique to Madagascar, and the snow leopard, one of the most charismatic animals of the Himalayas.

• They also include important medical plants such as the lichen Lobaria pindarensis, used to alleviate arthritis.
• Overall, 92% of land-based endemic species and 95% of marine endemics face negative consequences, such as a reduction in numbers, at 3°C.
• Due to greenhouse emissions, places like the Caribbean islands, Madagascar, and Sri Lanka could see most of their endemic plants go extinct as early as 2050. 
• The tropics are especially vulnerable, with over 60% of tropical endemic species facing extinction due to climate change alone.
• In Asia, islands including the Indian Ocean islands, the Philippines and Sri Lanka along with the Western Ghat mountains could lose most of their endemic plants due to climate change by 2050.