November 28, 2019

The March Of The Penguins Toward Extinction

Listen Later

2 minutes

According to a new study from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the warming climate may render emperor penguins extinct by the end of this century. The study, which was part of an international collaboration between scientists, finds that emperor penguins will likely experience an 86% decline by 2100 if the global climate continues to warm at the current rate. At that point, it would be very unlikely for them to recover, according to the study’s lead author.

The research was funded by the National Science Foundation and

recently published in the journal Global Change Biology.

The fate of emperor penguins is largely tied to the fate of sea

ice. The penguins use sea ice as a place

for breeding, feeding, and molting. They

look for very specific conditions of sea ice – it must be locked in to the

Antarctic shoreline but also close enough to open seawater to give them access

to food. The study predicts that this sea ice will gradually disappear,

depriving the birds of their habitat, food sources, and ability to raise their

young.

The researchers combined two existing computer models to study three

different climate change scenarios. If

the average global temperature increases by only 1.5 degrees Celsius, the study

found that only 5% of sea ice would be lost by 2100, resulting in a 19% drop in

penguin colonies. If the planet warms by

2 degrees Celsius, the sea ice loss nearly triples and more than a third of

penguin colonies disappear. The

‘business as usual’ scenario where the planet continues to warm at the current

rate will ensure a near complete loss of emperor penguin colonies by 2100.

**********

Web Links

Unless warming is slowed, emperor penguins will be marching towards extinction

Photo, posted January 15, 2011, courtesy of Eli Duke via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

...more

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Earth Wise

By Randy Simon

4.7

1515 ratings

November 28, 2019

The March Of The Penguins Toward Extinction

Listen Later

2 minutes

According to a new study from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the warming climate may render emperor penguins extinct by the end of this century. The study, which was part of an international collaboration between scientists, finds that emperor penguins will likely experience an 86% decline by 2100 if the global climate continues to warm at the current rate. At that point, it would be very unlikely for them to recover, according to the study’s lead author.

The research was funded by the National Science Foundation and

recently published in the journal Global Change Biology.

The fate of emperor penguins is largely tied to the fate of sea

ice. The penguins use sea ice as a place

for breeding, feeding, and molting. They

look for very specific conditions of sea ice – it must be locked in to the

Antarctic shoreline but also close enough to open seawater to give them access

to food. The study predicts that this sea ice will gradually disappear,

depriving the birds of their habitat, food sources, and ability to raise their

young.

The researchers combined two existing computer models to study three

different climate change scenarios. If

the average global temperature increases by only 1.5 degrees Celsius, the study

found that only 5% of sea ice would be lost by 2100, resulting in a 19% drop in

penguin colonies. If the planet warms by

2 degrees Celsius, the sea ice loss nearly triples and more than a third of

penguin colonies disappear. The

‘business as usual’ scenario where the planet continues to warm at the current

rate will ensure a near complete loss of emperor penguin colonies by 2100.

**********

Web Links

Unless warming is slowed, emperor penguins will be marching towards extinction

Photo, posted January 15, 2011, courtesy of Eli Duke via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

...more