Lee Hannah

Lee Hannah is a conservation ecologist and a Senior Researcher in Climate Change Biology at Conservation International. Hannah is one of many authors who published an article predicting that between 15% and 37% of species are at risk of extinction due to climate change caused by human greenhouse gas emissions (6) .

Biography

Lee Hannah received his B.A. in Biology with High Honors in June 1978 from the University of California at Berkeley. His honors thesis was “Renewable Energy Potentials and Impacts". Hannah received his Doctorate in Environmental Science and Engineering from UCLA in June 1985. His dissertation was “Protection of Hawaii’s Native Birds in Geothermal Energy Development,”. Since 2000, Hannah has been a Senior Researcher in Climate Change Biology at Conservation International. Since 2004, he has also been working as a visiting researcher and adjunct professor at Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at the University of California at Santa Barbara. His classes include Climate Change Biology, Landscape Ecology, and Conservation Planning (2). Hannah collaborates with the South Africa National Biodiversity Institute at Kirstenborsch (in Cape Town) to study biodiversity changes as a result of global warming (4).

Hannah is involved in three societies, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the Ecological Society of America, and the Society for Conservation Biology. He holds many honors and awards, including being a National Merit Scholar in 1974; Environmental Science and Engineering Class President in UCLA from 1981–82; the American Institute of Biological Sciences Congressional Fellow in Washington D.C. from 1986–87; and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a Science and Diplomacy Fellow, in Washington D.C. from 1987-89.

Work

Hannah’s work is primarily centered on how climate change affects biodiversity. He uses that research to see how climate change is affecting conservation efforts. Because of his work, he infers climate change needs to be strongly considered when planning conservation. Lee Hannah strongly supports creating protected areas such as parks and reserves. He is also an advocate of habitat corridors and believes they are necessary for the survival of animals (3). Hannah argues that each species have a certain tolerable range of temperature that they can handle. If a certain area that once was hospitable to the species becomes unsuitable, the species will migrate to a cooler area. Thus, habitat connectivity is needed so that plants and animals will be able to move to find suitable climatic conditions (4). Finally, Hannah supports lowering greenhouse gas emissions (4).

One of Hannah’s most notable publications was in the January 2004 edition of Nature. In the article, Extinction risk from climate change, Hannah and his coauthors attempt to predict how biodiversity will be affected by climate change (6). The study was done by computer simulations and based on the ecological law of the species-area curve, which amounts to the bigger the piece of livable land, the more species it harbors (7). The paper concluded that as a result of climate changes that will take place from now till 2050, between 15% and 37% of species will be on a path to extinction (6). Thus, all of those species will not be extinct by 2050, but they will be committed to extinction by human greenhouse gas pollution that occurs in that timeframe. The conclusions of the study are therefore based on the assumption that climate change will continue at approximately its current pace. If international policy action results in climate change starting to level-off, it would reduce the number of extinctions projected by the study (7). Critics of the study point to the all-computer simulation, saying too many unknowns in computers give skewed results. Likewise, some believe that just because living area shrinks, it is not necessarily indicative of the exact number of species that will go extinct (7). Other critics point to the fact that plants and animals are able to adapt, and though there will be an impact on life, there will not be as great an impact as this study predicts (7).

Hannah co-edited a defining book with Thomas Lovejoy on climate change, 'Climate Change and Biodiversity' (Yale University Press 2005). It was honored by Choice magazine as one of the “Outstanding Academic Titles” in 2005. It is written to cater to both specialists and those not in the scientific field. It is separated into six parts: Introduction, Present Changes, Learning From the Past, Understanding the Future, Conservation Responses, and Policy Responses (5)

Hannah authored the first undergraduate textbook on climate change and biological systems,'Climate Change Biology' (Elsevier 2010).He has authored over 50 papers on climate change and nature conservation.

Publications

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Hannah, L., Midgley, G., Andelman, S., Araujo, M., Martinez-Meyer, E., Pearson, R. and Williams, P. (2007) Protected Area Needs in a Changing Climate. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment (in proof).

Hannah, L., Midgley, G., Hughes, G. and Bomhard, B.(2005) The view from the Cape: Extinction risk, protected areas and climate change. Bioscience 55: 231-242.

Lovejoy, T. and Hannah, L. (Eds) (2005). Climate Change and Biodiversity. New Haven: Yale. 398pp

Hannah, L. and Philips, B. Extinction Risk coverage is worth reporting inaccuracies. Nature 430, 141 (letter 8 July 2004)

Thomas, C. D., A. Cameron, R. E. Green, M. Bakkenes, L. J. Beaumont, Y. C. Collingham, B. F. N. Erasmus, M. Ferreira de Siqueira, A. Grainger, L. Hannah, L. Hughes, B. Huntley, A. S. Van Jaarsveld, G. E. Midgely, L. Miles, M. A. Ortega-Huerta, A. T. Peterson, O. L. Phillips, and S. E. Williams. 2004. Extinction risk from climate change. Nature, 427:145-148.

Thomas, C. D., S. E. Williams, A. Cameron, R. E. Green, M. Bakkenes, L. J. Beaumont, Y. C. Collingham, B. F. N. Erasmus, M. Ferreira de Siqueira, A. Grainger, L. Hannah, L. Hughes, B. Huntley, A. S. Van Jaarsveld, G. F. Midgely, L. Miles, M. A. Ortega-Huerta, A. T. Peterson, and O. L. Phillips. 2004b. Thomas et al. reply. Nature, 430:1-2.

Hannah, L., Lovejoy, T, Midgley, G., Bond, W., Bush, M., Lovett, J., Scott, D., Woodward, I. 2002. Conservation of Biodiversity in a Changing Climate. Conservation Biology 16:11-17.

Midgley, G.F., Hannah, L., Roberts, R., Allsopp, J. & McDonald, D.J. (2001). Quaternary climatic oscillations as a driving force behind plant species richness in the greater Cape Mediterranean Region. Journal of Mediterranean Ecology 2:137-145.

Hannah, L. 2001. The role of global protected areas in conserving biodiversity during climate change. In: Climate Change and Protected Areas Visconti, G. (ed). Kluwer: Amsterdam.

Brooks, T., Hannah, L., da Fonseca, G. A. B. and Mittermeier, R. A. 2001. Prioritizing hotspots, representing transitions. TRENDS in Ecology & Evolution. 16, 673.

Hannah, L. 2001. World wilderness - Global assessments and prospects for the future. In: Wilderness and Humanity Martin, V. and Sarathy, M. (Eds). pp 14–20. Fulcrum: Golden, Colorado.

Fonseca, G.;Balmford, A.;Bibby, C.;Boitani, L.;Corsi, F.;Brooks, T.;Gascon,C.;Olivieri,S.;Mittermeier, R.;Burgess, N.;Dinerstein,E.;Olson, D.;Hannah, L.;Lovett, J.;Moyer, D.;Rahbek, C.;Stuart, S.;Williams, P.; (2000) Following Africa’s Lead in Setting Priorities Nature : 405 393-394

Mittermeier, R. A.;Myers, N.;Mittermeier, C. G.;Gil, P. R.;Fonseca, G. A. B.;Konstant, W. R.;Mast, R. B.;Thomsen, J. B.;Bowles, I. A.;Olivieri, S.;Ayres, J. M.;Hannah, L.; (1999) Hotspots and Global Biodiversity Conservation. In: Mittermeier, R. A., N. Myers, P. R. Gil, and C. G. Mittermeier (eds.), Hotspots: Earth’s Biologically Richest and Most Endangered Terrestrial Ecoregions, pp. 21–67 CEMEX

Hannah, L., B. Rakotosamimanana, J. Ganzhorn, R. A. Mittermeier, S. Olivieri, L. Iyer, S. Rajaobelina, J. Hough, F. Andriamialisoa, I. Bowles, and G. Tilkin. 1998. Participatory Planning, Scientific Priorities and Landscape Conservation in Madagascar. Environmental Conservation 25 (1) 30-36.

Ganzhorn, J., B. Rakotosamimanana, L. Hannah, J. Hough, L. Iyer, S. Olivieri, S. Rajaobelina, and G. Tilken. 1997. Priorities for Biodiversity Conservation in Madagascar. Primate Report (special issue) 48-1.

Slaymaker, D. M. and L. Hannah. 1997. GPS-Logged Aerial Video as a Georeferencing Tool for Digital Imagery in Remote Regions, A Case Study in Madagascar. In: Proceedings of the 16th Biannual Workshop on Color Photography and Videography in Resource Assessment.

Hannah, L., R. A. Mittermeier, K. Ross, H. Castro, F. Castro. 1997. New Threats to the Okavango Delta of Botswana. Oryx 31 (2) 86-89.

Hannah, L., J. L. Carr and A. Lankerani. 1995. Human Disturbance and Natural Habitat: A Biome Level Analysis of a Global Data Set. Biodiversity and Conservation. 4 128-155.

Hannah, L., D. Lohse, C. Hutchinson, and J.L. Carr. 1994. A Preliminary Inventory of Human Disturbance of World Ecosystems. AMBIO 23 (4-5):246.

Hannah, L. 1992. “African People, African Parks: An Evaluation of Development Initiatives as a Means of Improving Protected Area Conservation in Africa.” Agency for International Development, Bureau for Africa, Biodiversity Support Program and Conservation International.

Wells, M., K. Brandon and L. Hannah. 1992. People and Parks: Linking Protected Area Conservation to Local Development. World Bank.

Hannah, L. 1990. Rain-Forests and Geothermal Energy in Hawaii: Environmental Concerns Expose Flawed Planning Process. Environmental Conservation 17 (3):239.

Hannah, L., G. Wetterberg, and L. Duvall. 1988. “Botswana Biological Diversity Assessment.” Agency for International Development, Bureau for Africa. Technical Report 698-046788-1.

Hannah, L. 1987. Endangered Species Act Faces Challenges in 100th Congress. Bioscience 37 (3):32.

Hannah, L. 1987. Environmental Changes Underway at the World Bank. Bioscience 37 (3):186.

Hannah, L. 1987. Valuing Wildlife: Challenges for the Future. (book review) The Environmental Professional 8(2):36.

Hannah, L. 1986. Protection of Hawaii’s Native Wildlife During Geothermal Energy Development. Environmental Management 10 (5):611.

Hannah, L. 1986. An Assessment of Native Wildlife Values for Geothermal Energy Siting in Hawaii. The Environmental Professional 8 (1):21.

Kratzer, C., L. Hannah, and M. Broutman, 1985. Predicting Impacts from Water Conservation and Energy Development on the Salton Sea, California. Water Resources Bulletin 21 (4): 565.

Hannah, L. 1984. “Land Use Strategies in Wind Energy Development.” presented paper, AAAS Pacific Division Regional Meetings, San Francisco, CA June 10.

Hannah, L. 1984. “Economics of Wind Energy Development.” presented paper, AAAS Pacific Division Regional Meetings, San Francisco, CA June 12.

Lindberg, R., P. Merifield, F. Turner, L. Hannah. 1982. “Resource Use and Wildlife Issues in Development of Alternative Energy Technologies in the Southern California Desert.” UCLA/Southern California Edison Report 82-44.