Faultiere sind aufgrund des Klimawandels bis zum Ende des Jahrhunderts vom Aussterben bedroht | Forscher fanden heraus, dass Faultiere auf steigende Temperaturen mit einem langsameren Stoffwechsel reagieren und aufgrund ihrer eingeschränkten Fähigkeit, die Körpertemperatur zu regulieren, möglicherweise nicht überlebensfähig sind.

From the article: Sloths, the famously slow-moving yet adorable creatures native to Central and South America, could face extinction by the end of the century due to climate change.

Researchers investigating how sloths respond to rising temperatures have found that the animals’ slow metabolism and limited ability to regulate body temperature may leave them unable to survive in a warming world—especially for populations living in high-altitude regions.

“Despite being iconic species, comprehensive long-term population monitoring simply hasn’t been conducted at a scale that reflects the true challenges sloths face,” lead researcher Rebecca Cliffe told Newsweek. “However, from our 15 years of working with sloths in Costa Rica, we are very concerned. In areas where sloths were once abundant, we have observed their populations completely disappear over the past decade.”

The study, [published](https://peerj.com/articles/18168/) in PeerJ Life & Environment, focused on two-fingered sloths inhabiting both lowland and highland environments in Costa Rica.

By measuring oxygen consumption and core body temperature under simulated climate change conditions, scientists determined how sloths might cope with the projected temperature increases expected by 2100. The results were troubling.