New Delhi (NVI): Climate change is a major threat to global biodiversity. Antarctic ecosystems are no exception. A population of chinstrap penguins is feeling the heat, with more than one-third of a breeding colony lost in the past 20 years, new research finds.
The last decade was the hottest ever recorded on Earth, and 2019 was the second hottest year ever measured. The data has raised new concerns, and one of the places most seriously affected is Antarctica, at the bottom of the planet.
A warming planet, which is causing sea ice in Antarctica (and elsewhere) to melt, may ultimately be to blame for the plummeting penguin population, the researchers said. That’s because the chinstraps’ main food, shrimplike creatures called krill, depend on algae that attach to that ice.
Chinstrap penguins in Antarctica has seen a 36 per cent decline since 1991, in what researchers say is a consequence of declining krill populations. There has been a decline of around 150,000 chinstraps since the last major survey 50 years ago.
Scientists and researchers from Stony Brook, Northeastern Universities and Greenpeace have counted each member of the chaotic colony on foot from island to island across the Antarctic Peninsula, comparing different penguin populations to see how the animals are adapting to climate change. While it looks frigid, it is one of the fastest-warming areas on Earth.
“Sea ice is really what brings all of the ocean life here together. If there is less sea ice, there’s less krill, which means less food for the chinstrap penguins,” says a researcher.
Penguins are a lot like people – they need food and a good environment to thrive. The researchers say that if the world continues to warm, other species – even human beings – will be affected.
In addition, to protect the organisms that call the Antarctic home, we need to reduce human impact by reducing overfishing, tourism and even research activity.
