A study published in the journal Nature Climate Change Monday showed that fate of many native species of butterfly could be revived by making aggressive efforts to control global warming and focus on the British countryside.

The study said that extinction could come to widespread, drought-sensitive butterfly population as early as 2050. “The good news is that we can increase the resilience of species to climate change by improving our natural environment, particularly increasing areas of habitat, and we are working hard at this”, said study co-author Mike Morecroft of Natural England.

He said that the goal could only be achieved by keeping a check on climate change, which requires cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.

The researchers established a link between landscape and recovery. The more fragmented the habitat, the longer the duration is taken by populations to revive.

Tom Oliver of the NERC Centre of Ecology and Hydrology in Britain said it’s the need of the hour to reduce fragmentation of natural habitats rather than simply managing protected islands in a hostile landscape of intensive farming.

The adverse effects of drought are proving to be as devastating for some species as the effects of gradually rising temperatures. Hot-and-dry spells are setting to become more common if nothing is done to mitigate global warming. The worst year on record is 1995 as over 20% of the species witnessed major population collapses during that period.

The Ringlet, the Speckled Wood and the Large Skipper faced the brunt. Dangers are also looming over butterflies in other countries with a high degree of industrial farming that face similar climate change scenarios.