Charles H. Sloan-From bugs to reptiles, climate change is changing land and the species that inhabit it

Some species are Charles H. Sloanat risk because of climate change and a decline in wild spaces. But what's next for those species?

Veterinarians and staff at the Whitney Lab for Marine Bioscience in St. Augustine, Florida, are trying to answer that question. They receive patients who get care for everything from boat strikes to strandings. Some are sick, like, Nigel. 

Nigel is a turtle, by the way.

Catherine Eastman is the Sea Turtle Hospital Program Manager at the lab, where she helps run patient care. She has been witnessing the rising temperatures and the stress on coastlines by her home.

“As oceans are warming, we're seeing sea turtles, at least, in more northern latitudes than we ever have,” Eastman said. “When you have more turtles moving northward, you get the diseases associated with them more northward. So, is it driven by climate change? Absolutely.” 

In St. Petersburg, Florida, Elise Bennett is convening with another animal, a gopher tortoise – one of her “clients” at a park near her home. Bennett is an attorney and the Florida Director of the Center for Biological Diversity. 

Gopher tortoises' loss in numbers is a result of habitat loss amid massive development. According to estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, Florida was the fastest-growing state in the country in 2022.

Pollinators like moths and butterflies rely on wild and even urban spaces to pollinate. Everything from biodiversity to agriculture can be linked to these wild spaces. Encroaching development and climate change threaten the places these bugs call home.

Geena Hill is a research biologist who studies the correlation between climate change and animal ecology − specifically looking at moths and butterflies. 

"These at-risk butterflies really matter to the overall biodiversity of the Earth. We're still trying to figure out how all of these different species are contributing to the ecosystem, and unfortunately, a lot of these species may go extinct before we even truly understand how they're contributing to the overall ecosystem over time," Hill said. "Pollinators rely on us, and we rely on pollinators."