Human footprints exacerbate thermal exposure during habitat shift under climate warming in the 21st century

A gap remains in how climate warming and human footprints influence the ranges of thermal habitats. Here, we show that thermal habitats across China are projected to shift at a mean rate of about 3.25 km annually to avoid thermal exposure during the shift under the high emission climate scenario (SSP585) by the end of the 21st century. Under the optimistic climate scenario (SSP126), thermal habitats across China are projected to shift at a much lower mean rate (0.48 km annually). Human footprints exacerbate thermal exposure of 10.5 °C during the thermal habitat displacement under the SSP585 scenario. Furthermore, human footprints result in fewer and more tortuous thermal corridors along thermal habitat shifts, reducing thermal corridor scores by about 40% under SSP585 and 17% under SSP126. Protected areas can effectively mitigate the negative impact of human footprints on thermal corridors under the SSP585 scenario, with thermal corridor scores approximately 22% higher than those of nearby non-protected areas. We highlight the need for prioritizing the protection of existing protected areas to maintain thermal corridors and maximize thermal connectivity, given the current limited land resources.