No Country For Penguins

Climate change is happening, and it is not only humans who will be (soon or later) affected by melting ice, rising seas, floods or drought.

If consequences of this “crazy climate” on countries and human health are well documented and are raising interest, some studies are now focusing on its consequences on animal species.

While in some parts of the world climate change is less visible, some geographical areas, such as the Antarctic Peninsula, can be considered as the litmus test of what is happening worldwide.

Here, animal species such as penguins are witnessing a tremendous change that is already raising questions such as “What will be the future of these species?”.

Scientists do not really have a clear answer to this, but the good news is that researchers are posing questions starting from an interesting (and alarming) datum: the Antarctic Peninsula is warming at five times the rate of the rest of the planet.

The three species of penguin living there (Adélie, chinstraps and gentoo) are reacting differently to decreases in sea ice. While Adélies and chinstraps are declining, gentoo penguins have experienced a population boom. 

Why? This is still unclear. Maybe it is a matter of diet and the gentoo's ability to adapt to other food than krill, which “need sea ice to survive”.

An interesting read on climate change from the penguin's perspective.