Climate change makes organisms evolve faster

Experimental, Canadian and European scientists have demonstrated that organisms can evolve faster to survive in the climate-impacted environment.

Illustration. (Source: Internet)

Researchers have introduced a small fish in the ocean to grow in small tanks under ambient temperatures that have been decreasing over three years. In just three generations, each generation a year, this fish has evolved to be able to survive in a temperature of 2.5 degrees Celsius, much lower than the temperature limit that their grandparents have. can live.

Researchers believe that the evolution of three years of this experimental fish is equivalent to the natural evolution of their ancestors' 10,000 years to become freshwater fish by the end of the Ice Age.

However, researchers also warn that this rapid evolution must be very expensive. Of the fish that were experimented for three years, 95% of the fish died and only 5% of the fish survived thanks to adaptation.

The researchers also suggest that more experiments are needed to determine how fast such evolution occurs in other types of wildlife, as well as in warmer environments rather than cold. Rapid evolution to adapt like that does not mean there are no consequences.

Research on climate change has so far forecasted that global temperatures will increase gradually in the coming decades with extremely hot and cold periods.

The study is also evidence that people can cope with climate change. Researchers note that humans have evolved over 10,000 generations since their first migration from Africa.