Natural History Wanderings

The New York Times  reports

The hardy cactus — fond of heat and aridity, adapted to rough soils — might not seem like the picture of a climate change victim.

Yet even these prickly survivors may be reaching their limits as the planet grows hotter and drier over the coming decades, according to research published on Thursday. The study estimates that, by midcentury, global warming could put 60 percent of cactus species at greater risk of extinction.

That forecast does not take into account the poaching, habitat destruction and other human-caused threats that already make cactuses one of the world’s most endangered groups of organisms.

Read story at Even the Cactus May Not Be Safe From Climate Change – The New York Times