Without the intense interruption of humans, there are six types of drought-sensitive butterflies in Britain that may cease to exist.

Experts say that according to a new study in the journal Nature Climate Change, there will be a huge extinction of butterflies in Britain as early as 2050, according to Christian Science Monitor.

If there was a supported effort to cut greenhouse gas emissions and better manage landscapes such as restoring connections between habitats that have been fragmented by human activities over the years, these butterflies could thrive. But without all of it, they are slated for extinction.

“The results are worrying. Until I started this research, I hadn’t quite realized the magnitude and potential impacts from climate change,” Tom Oliver, an ecological modeler at Britain’s Centre for Ecology & Hydrology and the study’s lead author said. “To limit these losses, both habitat restoration and reducing CO2 emissions have a role. In fact, a combination of both is necessary.”

“The study looked at butterflies but the conclusions are potentially valid for other species such as birds, beetles, moths and dragonflies,” he added.

According to the British nonprofit Butterfly Conservation, over three-quarters of British butterflies are on the decline as of today. The concern is not only with their beautiful aesthetic value to the world, but they are indicators of a huge variety of other invertebrates present in the ecosystem. Essentially, butterflies and moths are essential to both pollination and the food chain.

“We could lose an astonishing fraction of biodiversity,” Jessica Hellmann, a population ecologist at the University of Notre Dame who was not part of the study. “People should care about this information because [the study] uses butterflies as a window to how climate change will affect creatures – many of which we take for granted.”

With all of the research and data collected, experts still only see one way to resolve this seemingly inevitable extinction of butterflies. There would have to be a wide movement to ensure the stabilization of landscape management in an effort to restore the butterflies’ habitats that have essentially been destroyed by humans.