Penguin in danger

2009/01/27 Kortabitarte Egiguren, Irati - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Zoologia
• Klima

Due to climate change, the emperor penguin may be in danger of extinction, as published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The Emperor Penguin is one of the highest penguins in the world, one meter long, which inhabits the icy sea waters. Moreover, it grows there and feeds on the plankton that grows under it. Due to climate change, the planet is warming and the ice sheet of the Arctic Sea, for example, is melting. Consequently, polar bears, among others, are endangered by ice hunting.

The case of Antarctica is not very clear. In order to measure the magnitude of the problem, researchers from the Massachusetts Institute analyze an Antarctic population and discover that the population of the area's emperor penguins will be greatly reduced in the future. In fact, they will be passed from 3,000 penguins to 400.

Image courtesy of: Samuel Blanc