20% of America's Plants and Animals are At Risk of Extinction

It was a half a century ago that America passed legislation to protect vanishing species and their habitats — and since then, more than five dozen species have recovered. Just one example: In 1963 only 417 nesting pairs of bald eagles were found in the lower 48 states. But today there's more than 300,000 bald eagles, writes USA Today. '[T]hough its future remains uncertain, many experts say it remains one of the nation's crowning achievements.'

But 1,252 species are still listed as endangered in the U.S. — 486 animals, and 766 plants — with 417 more species categorized as 'threatened.'

The perils of the changing climate add urgency to calls for increased funding and more protection. In North Carolina, for example, the rising sea steadily creeps over a refuge that's home to the sole remaining wild red wolf population. Off New England, warming waters forced changes in the foraging habits of the endangered North Atlantic right whale, putting the massive marine mammals in harm's way more often... One in 5 plant and animal species in the nation remain at risk of extinction, says Susan Holmes, executive director of the Endangered Species Coalition. 'Loss of habitat and climate change are absolutely some of the most important threats that we have.'

'We are at what I would say is a pivotal moment with the threats of climate change,' she said. 'We have to act faster than ever in order to ensure that these species are going to thrive.'

Read more of this story at Slashdot.