A quarter of freshwater fish species risk extinction by climate change: IUCN

Subject : Environment

Section: Climate change

Context:

The IUCN Red List assessment highlights the peril facing about a quarter of the world’s freshwater fish species due to climate change.

Details:

Out of nearly 15,000 species assessed, over 3,000 are at risk of extinction.
Factors like decreasing water levels, shifting seasons, and rising sea levels are impacting these fish, compounded by pollution, dams, overfishing, disease, and invasive species.
Examples include the decline of the Atlantic salmon population by 23%, moving it from least concern to near threatened, and large-toothed Lake Turkana robber (Brycinus ferox).
- Climate change disrupts their life cycles, affecting development, prey availability, and habitats.
- Additionally, threats to species like the green turtle, big-leaf mahogany, and Saiga antelope were noted, largely attributed to climate-related issues,Illegal logging and trade, habitat loss, incidental bycatch in industrial and artisanal fishing, and human activities.
Conservation efforts:
- The scimitar-horned oryx and Saiga antelope (found in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Russia and Mongolia) are showing population recoveries due to conservation efforts.