This meant that they would need to seek out suitable habitats or risk extinction if the climate change were sudden and dramatic. The scientists used an atmosphere-ocean global climate model to chart species’ occupied mean annual temperatures at both sea surface and the depth of their habitats. Lead author and PhD student Gwen Antell, from the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, said: ‘There are so many unknowns when it comes to how climate change impacts any given species’ ability to adapt. ‘What we can be sure of is that climate change is ongoing, as demonstrated by continuously warming and acidifying oceans. ‘Thermal niches of planktonic foraminifera are static throughout glacial–interglacial climate change' can be read in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
