Climate zones are shifting with increasing pace, in line with increasing temperatures reports research in Nature Climate Change. The work suggests that the rate of change will nearly double by the end of the century under a high end emissions scenario, and about 20% of all land area will undergo a change. This may mean that species will have less time to adapt to new climates, therefore increasing the risk of extinction.

Irina Mahlstein and colleagues use climate model simulations to investigate temperature and precipitation changes, and therefore climate zones, across the globe. Climate zones, based on monthly and annual temperature and precipitation, were found to be shifting with increasing pace, almost linear with temperature increases.