4 ways climate change is making life harder for tigers

Editor’s note: In the past century, 97 percent of the world’s tiger population has vanished, leaving only about 3,900 individuals left in the wild in 2017. Poaching, deforestation and development have driven this sharp decline. Now, from the pine forests of Russia to the rainforests of Indonesia, a new threat looms for these remaining tigers: climate change.

1. Rising sea levels 

Studies show that rising sea levels are shrinking coastal habitat for hundreds of endangered Bengal tigers that rely on India and Bangladesh’s mangrove forests, the largest in the world. Higher waters erode this patchwork of islands, called the Sundarbans, and cause salt water to migrate into fresh water, polluting the tigers’ drinking source. Tigers must find new freshwater sources and move to higher ground, escalating conflicts with communities living there.

Cutting down forests accelerates climate change while pushing species like the critically endangered Sumatran tiger to the brink of extinction. Unsustainably cultivated palm oil…