It"s well known that big animals, like polar bears, are sensitive to climate change. The Earth warms, polar ice 1 , and the bears are out of luck. The same goes for tigers, sea lions, elephants. As the globe heats up and natural environments change, all big creatures are potentially 2
But what about insects Some may be able to 3 just about anywhere. But most insects are just as sensitive to climate change as their larger, more beloved animal 4 .
What"s more, insects are arguably more important than large mammals, 5 speaking. While several thousand polar bears wander the arctic, untold billions of insects live in virtually everywhere on Earth. And they"re 6 in every ecosystem. For example, many of the world"s crops and other plants rely on insects for pollination (授粉). In forests, insects help break down dead trees and prepare the soil for new growth. And there are the animals, like birds, that 7 insects.
So how exactly will global warming affect insects We don"t really know. Some may go extinct. Others could migrate to cooler regions and 8 native insect species there. And this could have all sorts of important implications for crops and entire ecosystems.
What we do know is that because insects can"t 9 their body temperature to the same degree as mammals, they"re particularly sensitive to climate change. It"s hard to 10 what will happen to insects as the Earth warms. But it looks like we"re about to find out.