Birds & Animals at Risk of Extinction

Two-thirds of birds in North America are at risk of extinction from global heating. That is 389 different species of birds. Conservation group Audobon has mapped out the North American habitats of 604 different species of birds. They then applied the latest climate models to these habitats to project how these habitats will be affected by global heating.

Survival by Degrees: 389 Species on the Brink includes a number of different maps which allow you to find out which birds are at risk in each state and the predicted climate effects on each species of bird. The individual maps for each bird species show the current habitat range of the species. These maps allow you to view how the bird's range will be affected by different global heating scenarios. Under each of these scenarios the map shows where range will be lost and gained and provides an overall vulnerability status for the species.

If you search by zip-code or state you can view a list of all the bird species in your area. Select a species from this list and you can view the species' current range in your area and how that range will be affected under different climate models. You can also view an assessment of the climate threats facing birds (and people) in the selected state and a map of some of the specific threats which global heating will have in your chosen state.



Mapping the birds and animals at risk of extinction from global heating has become more urgent as the pace of global heating accelerates around the world. There are 719 species listed as endangered in the USA under the federal Endangered Species Act. Recently National Geographic used this list to create an interactive map to highlight just one endangered species in every state of the United States. If you hover over a state on National Geographic's See a different endangered animal in every U.S. state map then you can learn about just one of the animals which is currently endangered in that state.

Around the globe more than 28,000 species are threatened with extinction. The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources's Red List of Threatened Species is a comprehensive database of animal and plant species which are at risk of extinction around the world.

The IUCN Red List website allows you to search for specific animals or plants to view an interactive map showing where the species still exists in the wild and in which areas it has already become extinct. For example this map visualizes the remaining range of the tiger. The map highlights areas where the tiger is still extant (shaded yellow) and the areas where the tiger once ranged but is now extinct (shown in red).