animals in the tropics are particularly vulnerable, researchers said. Conditions in the tropics stay in a narrower range than in other places on the planet, so it takes a smaller shift to put creatures in peril,

The team also examined conditions for 54,000 locations around the world. Under a business-as-usual scenario, Los Angeles will see permanent changes to its climate by 2048. If strong measures were taken to curb emissions, Angelenos would have an extra 31 years to adapt, the study found.

But in the tropics, there are far fewer opportunities for plants and animals to do that, Pimm said.

Although organisms all over the world will have to find ways to adapt to higher temperatures, animals in the tropics are particularly vulnerable, researchers said. Conditions in the tropics stay in a narrower range than in other places on the planet, so it takes a smaller shift to put creatures in peril, said biologist Eric Post, director of the Polar Center at Penn State.

"The optimistic way to look at this is that taking steps to reduce emissions is buying us time — for species to adapt, for human societies to change and to come up with technological advancements," said study coauthor Abby Frazier, also a graduate student in geography at the University of Hawaii. "It lets us put on the brakes. If you were about to get into an accident, wouldn't you want it to happen at 20 mph rather than 80?"