The creatures of Galapagos which inspired Charles Darwin face their biggest evolutionary test
Darwin saw marine iguanas here, the only lizard that swims for food. His famous finches dart by. Now, in the era of climate change, they might be no match for the whims of natural selection.
By Nicholas Casey
19 DECEMBER 2018
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In the struggle against extinction on these islands, Darwin saw a blueprint for the origin of every species, including humans. Yet not even Darwin could have imagined what awaited the Galápagos, where the stage is set for perhaps the greatest evolutionary test yet.
As climate change warms the world's oceans, these islands are a crucible. And scientists are worried. Not only do the Galápagos sit at the intersection of three ocean currents, they are in the cross hairs of one of the world's most destructive weather patterns, El Niño, which causes rapid, extreme ocean heating across the Eastern Pacific tropics.
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