Rhino are unable to sweat, which means that as temperatures increase, both black and white rhino are more and more reliant on finding shade, in order to keep their huge bodies within safe temperatures – will there come a time, where this is impossible? What other species might be at risk, even far from the poles.
Another issue, is that already, there are conflicts between humans and wildlife for water. Should the temperature rise, many species are likely to need a great deal more water, and this water requirement is likely to lead to clashes over this resource, not to mention wildlife roaming outside areas set aside for their protect, for the simple reason that humans have stolen the water that they formerly relied upon.
These are likely to be relatively early impacted species, but do not forget the effect that rising temperatures have on rainforests – already large areas of the Amazon basin are turning to Savannah. Were this to happen to the rest of the worlds rainforests, all the great apes would die off fast (and that would only be a start.
