A 2.5?C rise in average world temperatures above 1990 levels may result in up to two-thirds of all animal species in the Kruger National Park becoming extinct, according to Environmental Affairs and Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk.
Speaking at the opening of a climate change conference at Kirstenbosch in Cape Town on Monday, Van Schalkwyk said a growing water scarcity in Africa could also lead to increasing numbers of "environmental refugees" fleeing to better-resourced countries on the continent.
Should global warming continue unabated, it could cause massive damage to South Africa's flagship reserve, the Kruger National Park.
"An extensive report about the effects of climate change (the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, published in June) ... shows that ... the damage to one of South Africa's most celebrated and popular conservation and tourism areas could be shattering," he said.
Higher temperatures could lead to the extinction of 24 to 59 percent of mammals, 28 to 40 percent of birds, 13 to 70 percent of butterflies, 18 to 80 percent of other invertebrates, and 21 to 45 percent of reptiles in the Kruger National Park.
Van Schalkwyk said a global response was needed to keep global warming in check.
"To avoid the worst impacts of climate change, all countries need to carry their fair share of responsibility to limit a global temperature increase to below 2?C. It will be a failure of this generation of leaders if any developed country shirks its responsibility for the problem."
South Africa itself could not continue along a business-as-usual path, without carbon constraints.
Global warming is caused by the emission of greenhouse gases, mainly carbon dioxide released by the burning of fossil fuels.
South Africa had to take very difficult and important decisions relating to its own efforts to reduce and avoid emissions.
Among these was building a low-carbon economy and a climate-resilient society, and adapting to unavoidable climate change.