How climate change affects animal welfare through habitat loss, extreme weather, food insecurity, and disease — and what can be done.
Climate change creates welfare challenges at multiple levels. Direct effects include heat stress in farmed and wild animals, reduced water availability, and more frequent extreme weather events. Indirect effects include changes in disease vector ranges (affecting new species), altered food availability, and habitat degradation. For wild animals, climate change compounds existing pressures from habitat destruction and hunting. For farmed animals, heat stress reduces welfare and productivity, and is already a serious concern in many regions.