How the climate crisis harms animals — and why solving both requires the same transformation
Climate change and animal welfare are deeply intertwined. Climate change is among the greatest threats to animal welfare in the coming century — it destroys habitats, disrupts food systems, intensifies extreme weather events that kill billions of animals, and forces mass migrations. At the same time, animal agriculture is among the leading drivers of climate change — creating a self-reinforcing cycle of harm.
Addressing this nexus requires understanding both directions of the relationship: how climate threatens animals, and how animal agriculture drives climate change. The good news is that solutions to both problems substantially overlap — particularly around dietary transition and land use transformation.
Rising temperatures cause heat stress in wild and farmed animals. The 2021 Pacific Northwest heat dome killed an estimated 1 billion marine animals along the coast. Australian bushfires in 2019-2020 killed or displaced an estimated 3 billion animals. Farmed animals in non-cooled facilities face increasing mortality from heat waves.
Climate change accelerates habitat destruction through drought, fire, sea-level rise, and changed precipitation patterns. Arctic sea ice loss threatens polar bears and ice-dependent species. Coral bleaching from ocean warming has devastated reef ecosystems. Forest dieback threatens countless species adapted to specific temperature ranges.
When climate change causes plant flowering, insect emergence, and bird migration to shift at different rates, the synchronized timing that species depend on breaks down. Caterpillar emergence no longer peaks when migrating birds arrive. Flowers bloom before pollinators appear. These mismatches reduce food availability and reproduction, causing population declines.
Oceans absorb ~30% of atmospheric CO2, becoming more acidic. Ocean acidification dissolves the shells of mollusks, crustaceans, and coral polyps. It disrupts fish sensory systems, affecting navigation and predator avoidance. The welfare implications of billions of marine animals struggling in chemically hostile waters are profound.
Warming temperatures expand the range of disease vectors (mosquitoes, ticks) into previously cold areas, bringing new pathogens to wildlife populations with no evolved immunity. Avian malaria has devastated Hawaiian bird populations as mosquitoes expand upslope. Novel pathogen introductions threaten wildlife globally.
Intensifying droughts reduce water availability for wildlife and farmed animals. Animals in intensive farm systems are particularly vulnerable to water shortages. Wild animals concentrate around shrinking water sources, increasing disease transmission, predation pressure, and conflict. African wildlife has been severely impacted by extended droughts linked to climate change.
Animal agriculture drives approximately 80% of Amazon deforestation — primarily for cattle grazing and soy production for livestock feed. Tropical deforestation is a major carbon source and the primary driver of terrestrial biodiversity loss. Land currently used for livestock (45% of Earth's ice-free land) could support far more carbon sequestration if returned to native ecosystems.
Cattle, sheep, and other ruminants produce methane through enteric fermentation — a greenhouse gas 80x more potent than CO2 over 20 years. Global livestock produces approximately 14.5% of global GHG emissions, with beef cattle responsible for the largest share. Reducing ruminant livestock numbers is one of the fastest ways to reduce near-term warming.
If humanity shifted to primarily plant-based diets, an area the size of North America and the EU combined could be restored to natural ecosystems. This land could sequester enormous amounts of carbon while simultaneously providing habitat for billions of wild animals, addressing both the climate and biodiversity crises simultaneously.
Climate justice frameworks recognize that those least responsible for climate change often suffer its worst effects. This applies to animals too — wildlife and farmed animals in the Global South bear severe climate impacts from emissions primarily generated in wealthy nations.
Biodiversity-rich regions — Amazon, Congo Basin, Southeast Asian forests, coral triangle — face the most severe climate-driven wildlife loss while contributing least to global emissions. International climate finance must include biodiversity and wildlife welfare alongside human climate adaptation.
Billions of farmed animals in the Global South are increasingly vulnerable to climate extremes — particularly in regions lacking resources for infrastructure adaptation. Heat stress in poultry, drought impacts on cattle, and flood risk to fish farms are all growing welfare concerns driven by climate change that wealthier farmers can mitigate through technology that poor farmers cannot afford.
Actions that simultaneously reduce climate change and improve animal welfare represent the highest-priority opportunities for advocates:
Dietary Transition: Shifting from animal to plant-based diets reduces both GHG emissions and farmed animal suffering. This is the single highest-impact individual and systemic action available.
Ending Deforestation: Protecting tropical forests saves both carbon stocks and extraordinary wildlife diversity. Supporting indigenous land rights is often the most effective conservation strategy.
Restoring Ecosystems: Rewilding and ecosystem restoration on former agricultural land stores carbon and provides habitat for billions of wild animals.
Sustainable Aquaculture Reform: Transitioning from wild-capture fisheries to sustainable, welfare-conscious aquaculture (or plant-based seafood alternatives) reduces pressure on marine ecosystems.
Energy Transition: Electrifying food systems, transportation, and heating reduces emissions that drive the climate impacts threatening wildlife globally.
The most powerful solutions for animals and climate are the same. Learn how to make them count.
Agriculture & Climate Plant-Based Guide Rewilding