Extreme weather events driven by climate change cause significant wildlife welfare harm through heatwaves, droughts, floods and storms.
Extreme weather events cause acute, intense suffering for wild animals at population scale. Flying foxes in Australian heatwaves - dying of heat exhaustion in trees, falling to the ground and dying over hours - experience acute thermal distress documented through behavioral and physiological measures. Starving herbivores in drought conditions experience prolonged hunger and weakness before death. Flood-displaced wildlife experience fear and physical injury navigating unfamiliar environments and human infrastructure. The welfare significance of these events is compounded by their increasing frequency and severity under climate change - what were once exceptional events are becoming recurrent. Emergency wildlife welfare response - providing water points, rescue operations, emergency feeding - addresses acute impacts while climate action addresses the root cause.