A new study concludes that males of some species will become sterile because of high temperatures due to global warming.
So far, researchers have focused on temperatures that could kill organisms, not temperatures at which organisms become sterile.
The study found that out of 43 fruit fly species, the males of almost half of the species became sterile at lower than lethal temperatures.
What is important is that scientists could predict more accurately the global distribution of fruit flies by including the temperature at which they become sterile, rather than just using their lethal temperature.
Right now, we don't have a way to tell which organisms will become sterile at what temperature and where they are found on Earth.
Many species will go extinct due to global warming sooner than later and this is going to be a major problem for conserving Earth's biodiversity.
Original article:
Infertility poses ‘major threat’ to biodiversity during climate change
Original study:
Temperatures that sterilize males better match global species distributions than lethal temperatures