"Changes in the climate are happening much faster than animals are able to respond."

"From birds in the Plains to bighorn sheep in California to caribou in Alaska and moose in Minnesota, a new study says animals are struggling to adapt to the new climate conditions caused by the burning of fossil fuels, which produces the carbon dioxide that warms the atmosphere.

'Climate change is the biggest threat wildlife will face this century,' says the report released today by the National Wildlife Federation, an environmental group based in Reston, Va.

Though animals have adapted to natural climate variation since the beginning of time, the changes are happening much faster than they are able to respond. 'The underlying climatic conditions to which species have been accustomed for thousands of years are rapidly changing, and we are already witnessing the impacts,' according to the report, called 'Wildlife in a Warming World.'"

Doyle Rice reports for USA TODAY January 30, 2013. [2]