A study of more than 250 plants and animals suggests their ability to adapt to changes in rainfall and temperature will be vastly outpaced by future climate change.
Amphibians, reptiles and plants are particularly vulnerable, according to US researchers.
And tropical species are at higher risk than those in temperate zones.
Some animals might be able to move geographically to cope with rising temperatures, but others live in isolated areas where they cannot move, such as in nature reserves or on mountains or islands.
Ecologists analysed how quickly species had changed their climatic niches (the conditions where they can survive) over time, and how these rates compared with that of global warming.
They analysed 266 populations of plants and animals, including insects, amphibians, birds, mammals and reptiles.
Rates of change in climatic niches were much slower than rates of projected climate change, by more than 200,000 fold for temperature (on average), they said.
"Overall, our results show that rates of climatic niche change among populations of plants and animals are dramatically slower than projected rates of future climate change," said Tereza Jezkova and John Wiens, of the University of Arizona.
Mammals and birds might be better placed to survive than amphibians and reptiles, because they had the ability to regulate their own body temperatures, said Dr Wiens.
And, while some species might be able to move to higher latitudes or elevations to survive, "for a lot of organisms, that is not an option".
"It's a double jeopardy of climate change and habitat destruction," he told BBC News.
The research is published in the journal, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.
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Ibrahim Halawa has been detained in an Egyptian prison for more than three years.
His trial was adjourned for a 17th time on Tuesday.
Charlie Flanagan said the government's focus was on supporting an application for Mr Halawa to be deported.
The Irish government has also requested that he be considered for release under a new Egyptian government amnesty scheme for young prisoners.
Mr Halawa, who turned 21 on Tuesday, is the son of Ireland's most senior Muslim cleric and was arrested during anti-government protests in Cairo in August 2013.
He has been charged along with 463 others with inciting violence, rioting and sabotage relating to the protests in Cairo.
Mr Halawa appeared in court on Tuesday and told judges that he was innocent and asked to be allowed to return home.
His family has denied claims that Mr Halawa is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's oldest and largest Islamist organisation.
The Egyptian government has declared it a terrorist group, a claim the organisation rejects.
More than 1,000 people have been killed and 40,000 are believed to have been jailed since President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi led the military's overthrow of Mohammed Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected head of state, in 2013.
Many species will not be able to adapt fast enough to survive climate change, say scientists.
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The Irish foreign minister has said the government will apply maximum pressure on the Egyptian authorities to secure the return of a prisoner to Ireland.