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Emperor penguin at severe risk of extinction as a result of local weather change


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Emperor penguin at critical risk of extinction due to climate change
2022-05-08 18:54:19
#Emperor #penguin #danger #extinction #due #climate #change

The emperor penguin is at severe risk of extinction in the subsequent 30 to 40 years as a result of climate change, in accordance with 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 changes, many colonies will disappear in the next 30 to 40 yearsTourist and fishing exercise also harms the penguins, disrupting the food cycle

The emperor, the world's largest penguin and one among only two penguin species endemic to Antarctica, provides birth during the Antarctic winter and requires strong sea ice from April by way of to December to nest fledgling chicks.

If the ocean freezes later or melts prematurely, the emperor household can not complete its reproductive cycle.

"If the water reaches the newborn penguins, which are not able to swim and do not have waterproof plumage, they die of the cold and drown," said biologist Marcela Libertelli, who has studied 15,000 penguins across two colonies in Antarctica at the IAA.

This has occurred on the Halley Bay colony in the Weddell Sea, the second-largest Emperor penguin colony, the place for three years all the chicks died.

Each August, in the middle of the southern hemisphere winter, Dr Libertelli and other scientists at Argentina's Marambio Base in Antarctica travel 65 km every day by motorcycle in temperatures as little as -40 degrees Celsius to achieve the closest Emperor penguin colony.

As soon as there, they rely, weigh, and measure the chicks, collect geographical coordinates, and take blood samples. They also conduct aerial evaluation.

Every August, researchers from Argentina's Antarctic Institute travel to Halley Bay to study the colony's chicks.(British Antarctic Survey: Peter Fretwell)

The scientists' findings level to a grim future for the species if climate change is not mitigated.

"[Climate] projections suggest that the colonies which might be positioned between latitudes 60 and 70 degrees [south] will disappear in the subsequent few a long time; that's, within the subsequent 30, 40 years," Dr Libertelli mentioned.

The emperor's distinctive features embody the longest reproductive cycle among penguins.

After a chick is born, one dad or mum continues carrying it between its legs for heat until it develops its closing plumage.

"The disappearance of any species is a tragedy for the planet. Whether small or large, plant or animal — it does not matter. It is a loss for biodiversity," Dr Libertelli said.

The emperor penguin's disappearance could have a dramatic impact throughout Antarctica, an extreme setting the place meals chains have fewer members and fewer links, 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", mentioned Dr Libertelli, with Antarctic ice sheets depleting since no less than 1999.

The rise of tourism and fishing in Antarctica have also put the emperor's future in danger by affecting krill, one of many main sources of meals for penguins and other species.

"Tourist boats often have various damaging effects on Antarctica, as do the fisheries," Dr Libertelli said.

"It is important that there's greater control and that we think about the longer term."

Reuters


Quelle: www.abc.web.au

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