Climate Change Refugia

Climate Change Refugia (noun): Areas buffered from climate change that enable the continued persistence of plants and animals.



As climate change reduces or alters species' habitats, climate change refugia help plants and animals hold on. In this comic, a hare's mountain snowpack habit is melting. Without refugia, our fluffy friend would be forced to move farther up the mountain as the snowpack recedes in lower elevations. Luckily, he was able to find a patch of habitat on the underside of a cliff where snow and temperature conditions remain stable--climate change refugia to the rescue!

Created by ORISE Fellow Ben Slyngstad.