If you thought global warming is nothing but bad news for our planet, think again. Recent analysis claimed that the Earth's climate, which is increasing becoming warmer, is good for generating more biodiversity.
A study conducted by scientists from the Glasgow, York, and Leeds Universities revealed that biodiversity on Earth generally increases as the planet warms. The team analyzed the marine fossil and geological records diversity over a period of 540 million years, replicating an earlier study with a larger data set.
According to York biologist Dr Peter Mayhew "The improved data give us a more secure picture of the impact of warmer temperatures on marine biodiversity and they show that, as before, there is more extinction and origination in warm geological periods. But, overall, warm climates seem to boost biodiversity in the very long run, rather than reducing it."
Dr Alistair McGowan, of the School of Geographical and Earth Sciences at the University of Glasgow, said "The previous findings always seemed paradoxical. Ecological studies show that species richness consistently increases towards the Equator, where it is warm, yet the relationship between biodiversity and temperature through time appeared to be the opposite. Our new results reverse these conclusions and bring them into line with the ecological pattern."
However, the researchers also suggested that the increasing temperature will not boost global biodiversity in the short term as long timescales are necessary for new forms to evolve. Instead, the present trend of current change is expected to cause diversity loss.
The study is published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
