Climate change enhances the 'domino effect' that will wipe out all life on Earth

 Researchers have warned that climate change is increasing the risk of a "domino effect of extinction" that could wipe out all life on Earth.

 The theory known as "co-extinction" means that an organism dies because it depends on another species that is doomed.

 The researchers say that the end of all life, is the worst-case scenario, but they warn that the "domino effect" could significantly increase the risks of climate change, and they found that 5 to 6 degrees of global average warming, is enough to eliminate most forms of life on the planet.

 "Even the most resilient species will inevitably fall victim to the combination of extinction drivers as extreme pressures are pushing ecosystems to collapse," says lead author Giovanni Strona of the European Commission's Joint Research Center in Ispra, northern Italy.

 Researchers from Italy and Australia simulated 2,000 "virtual land" linking animal and plant species.  Using sophisticated modeling, they subjected the hypothetical Earth to catastrophic environmental changes that ultimately annihilated all life.

 The simulated disasters included runaway global warming, "nuclear winter" scenarios after multiple atomic bomb detonations, and a major asteroid impact.

 Study co-author Professor Bradshaw of Flinders University in South Australia and Dr Strona say their hypothetical scenarios caution humanity against underestimating the impact of mass extinctions.

 Professor Bradshaw warns that "not taking into account the domino effect would give an unrealistic and overly optimistic perspective on the impact of climate change in the future."

 "By comparing extinction scenarios based solely on ecological variances of species, we show that neglecting to consider the cascading impact of biodiversity loss leads to an overestimation of the planet's life force in the face of global climate change," the research team wrote.

 Source: Daily Mail