Question

In climate sciences there is the new field ofextreme weather event attribution(EWEA). It investigates quite successfully on the one side how climate change (i.e. rise of global and regional mean temperatures) leads to an increase of the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events (of different types: droughts, floods, hurricanes, at different places). On the other side EWEA investigates for a given extreme weather event (a specific drought, flood, hurricane) how climate change contributed to its causes (making it more probable in a sense). I wonder if there is a corresponding field ofspecies extinctionattribution (SEA) which investigates how climate change and extreme weather events contribute to the causes of the extinction of a species. Both on the statistical (frequentists') and on the anecdotal level. Anecdotal means: considering a specific species that's gone extinct recently (so we know the circumstances quite well) and investigating how the rise of mean temperatures and/or extreme weather events have caused it. On the one side SEA might be "easier" than EWEA because the extinction of a species is a better defined event than extreme weather events. On the other side there may be more and more complex additional causes (next to climate and extreme weather events), mainly the destruction of habitats and interruption of migration routes. So my question is: Is there something likeextinction attribution sciencewith a focus on climate change as a main driver of species extinction? Maybe species extinction is too much, and (severe) decline of species population (species decline for short) would be more appropriate? Even though without focus on climate change, this paper is about extinction attribution in the sense that the relation between traits and extinction risk is investigated: A review of the relation between species traits and extinction risk(2019) And of course the impact of climate change on species populations is investigated carefully (only under another umbrella term: "climate attribution science", not meaning "what contributes to climate change" (as in weather event attribution science) but "to what does climate change contribute"), for example Climate attribution science and the Endangered Species Act(2021)

Answer 1

Climate change attribution science investigates how climate change contributes to species extinction and population decline through statistical and anecdotal evidence.

Step-by-step explanation:

Scientists recognize that climate change is a major threat to species extinction, especially when combined with other factors like habitat loss. Climate change alters regional climates, making habitats less hospitable and forcing species to migrate. Changes in climate also disrupt species' adaptations to seasonal resources and breeding times. Climate change attribution science focuses on understanding how climate change contributes to species extinction and population decline, considering both statistical and anecdotal evidence.