Emperor penguin at severe danger of extinction as a result of climate change
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2022-05-08 18:54:19
#Emperor #penguin #danger #extinction #due #climate #change
The emperor penguin is at extreme risk of extinction in the next 30 to 40 years because of local weather change, according to research by the Argentine Antarctic Institute (IAA).
Key points:Penguin chicks succumb to freezing or drowning when exposed to the ocean before they develop their waterproof plumageIf nothing adjustments, many colonies will disappear in the next 30 to 40 yearsTourist and fishing activity also harms the penguins, disrupting the meals cycleThe emperor, the world's largest penguin and one in all only two penguin species endemic to Antarctica, gives delivery throughout the Antarctic winter and requires solid sea ice from April via to December to nest fledgling chicks.
If the sea freezes later or melts prematurely, the emperor family cannot full its reproductive cycle.
"If the water reaches the new child penguins, which are not ready to swim and wouldn't have waterproof plumage, they die of the chilly and drown," stated biologist Marcela Libertelli, who has studied 15,000 penguins throughout two colonies in Antarctica on the IAA.
This has happened on the Halley Bay colony within the Weddell Sea, the second-largest Emperor penguin colony, where for 3 years all of the chicks died.
Every August, in the middle of the southern hemisphere winter, Dr Libertelli and other scientists at Argentina's Marambio Base in Antarctica travel 65 km each day by bike in temperatures as little as -40 degrees Celsius to succeed in the nearest Emperor penguin colony.
Once there, they depend, weigh, and measure the chicks, gather geographical coordinates, and take blood samples. They also conduct aerial evaluation.
Each August, researchers from Argentina's Antarctic Institute journey to Halley Bay to review the colony's chicks.(British Antarctic Survey: Peter Fretwell)The scientists' findings point to a grim future for the species if climate change isn't mitigated.
"[Climate] projections recommend that the colonies that are situated between latitudes 60 and 70 degrees [south] will disappear within the next few a long time; that's, within the subsequent 30, 40 years," Dr Libertelli mentioned.
The emperor's unique features embrace the longest reproductive cycle among penguins.
After a chick is born, one mum or dad continues carrying it between its legs for warmth till it develops its remaining plumage.
"The disappearance of any species is a tragedy for the planet. Whether small or giant, plant or animal — it would not matter. It's a loss for biodiversity," Dr Libertelli mentioned.
The emperor penguin's disappearance could have a dramatic impression throughout Antarctica, an extreme setting where food chains have fewer members and fewer hyperlinks, Dr Libertelli stated.
In early April, the World Meteorological Group warned of "increasingly excessive temperatures coupled with unusual rainfall and ice melting in Antarctica" — a "worrying trend", said Dr Libertelli, with Antarctic ice sheets depleting since at least 1999.
The rise of tourism and fishing in Antarctica have also put the emperor's future in danger by affecting krill, one of many principal sources of meals for penguins and other species.
"Vacationer boats usually have numerous destructive effects on Antarctica, as do the fisheries," Dr Libertelli stated.
"It is necessary that there is higher control and that we take into consideration the longer term."
Reuters
Quelle: www.abc.web.au