The Relationship of Climate Change and Biodiversity

The Earth’s story is one of balance, an intricate web of life woven through time, climate, and evolution. Yet, in recent centuries, this balance has been tested as human influence reshapes natural systems faster than they can adapt. Among the greatest challenges of our time stands the relationship between climate change and biodiversity, two forces deeply intertwined. Understanding how they affect one another is essential if humanity is to protect the living world that sustains us all.

The vast circle of life on Earth has been interconnected to balance ecosystems where plants, animals, and organisms offer each other food and energy within the adaptive weather and landscape. Though climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns, according to the United Nations, this circle has been disrupted and broken through human activities which result in the current concern of global warming. We, humans in the industrial era, are burning fossil fuels which release greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4, N2O, CFCs) to the atmosphere, trapping the heat in the surface of the Earth and making a warmer temperature. In the recent report, IPCC, 2018: Global Warming of 1.5^oC, the temperature rose to 1.5^oC warmer and It is estimated to be 2^oC or higher to 5^oC by 2100 if the current trend continues. In the meantime, “In 2024, the Earth’s average temperature was reportedly 1.5°C warmer than in pre-industrial times.” UNEP, 2025, Emissions Gap Report.

Biodiversity Loss in the Climate Change Circulation

When the Earth temperature rises higher and warmer the whole ecosystem in which biodiversity plays a key role in its balance is also changed. “Biodiversity is the variety of life on Earth, in all its forms, from genes and bacteria to entire ecosystems such as forests or coral reefs.”, UNEP: Biodiversity-Our Strongest Natural Defense Against Climate Change. The rapid loss of biodiversity sits inside the climate change circle like a shrinking island in a rising tide. Each degree of warming negatively impacts not just the single part of any living thing, seriously, it affects the chain of life in the ecosystem and breaks down the completed puzzle of the ecosystem. Therefore, the threads snap faster than they can be rewoven.   

When species disappear, nature loses its superpowers.

The danger grows because biodiversity and climate are partners in a delicate dance. Rich ecosystems store carbon, cool landscapes, and balance water cycles. But when species disappear, nature loses its superpowers. Forests capture less carbon. Wetlands filter less water. Grasslands become brittle and burn more easily. This weakness then feeds more warming, which causes more loss, spinning the circle faster, tighter, and harsher.

Can We Break Through this Harmful Circle?

To break the circle, we need to give nature space to breathe again.

To break the circle, we need to give nature space to breathe again. Protect forests before the last old giants fall. Remaining the rising temperature below 2oC should be achieved in the next decades. This action needs all the stakeholders from policy makers, communities and each individual to join in and respect the climate actions. Protecting and restoring mangroves that guard coasts, wetlands that filter more water and forests that store more carbons with foods and shelters need to be in action. Each step of our sustainable living practice such as agro-ecology that keeps soil and biodiversity alive, using clean energy that keeps the air clean without increasing GHGs, and promoting indigenous culture can take part in climate change mitigation.

The potential initiative starts from empowering young people and youth to be aware of the crisis and take part in the policy making which positively impacts their generation and the future. Through education with nature-connection and appreciation, young people can be transformed with empathy and compassion for all the living diversities that support each other's harmony and peace of life.

Through education with nature-connection and appreciation, young people can be transformed with empathy and compassion for all the living diversities that support each other's harmony and peace of life.

Biodiversity as The Earth Survivor

In the climate change circle, biodiversity is both the first to be hurt and the key to calming the storm. Without its full choir of species, the world grows quieter, poorer, and far more fragile. With it, the planet has a full potential to heal and survive and that keeps us alive.

The relationship between climate change and biodiversity is not a distant or abstract issue, it is the pulse of life on Earth. Every species lost weakens the planet’s resilience, and every tree, reef, or wetland protected strengthens its chance to endure. The path forward lies in collaboration, compassion, and reconnection with the living world that shelters us.