The outlook for wildlife would be grim even if the planet were not warming. According to a major report last year, 1 million species could soon be wiped out – a sixth mass extinction.  The main cause at present is the loss of habitat, but over this century the changing climate is expected to push ever more species over the brink.

A warming world poses numerous challenges to wildlife. For many plants and animals, their current habitats will simply get too hot. Many are already moving to try to stay within their comfort zone. In the oceans, some organisms have shifted their ranges by hundreds of kilometres.

But on land there are few spaces left for animals to relocate to, and those that do exist are highly fragmented, which makes it very hard for wildlife to adapt.  In polar regions, the loss of sea ice is posing problems for the polar bear and other animals.

The twin problems of over-population and climatic change have to be addressed.  To call them hoaxes is disgraceful.  Over-population, in Africa particularly, is a cultural/religious matter, but with modern family planning there is no medical barrier to restricting the number of children you have – if you want to and have the money. A higher standard of living usually results in fewer children per couple.

As for climate change, one has to be either an oil or coal company executive or a politician taking money from such people, to still believe it is a hoax.  This is beyond being a party political matter – it is a matter of our survival on this planet.  The public pressure to do something radical about it grows and grows, and those of us who espouse Epicureanism should add to that pressure where we can.  (Provoked by a long article in New Scientist, Jan 4, 2020)