{"id":67726,"date":"2024-04-28T15:39:46","date_gmt":"2024-04-28T20:39:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=67726"},"modified":"2024-04-28T15:39:46","modified_gmt":"2024-04-28T20:39:46","slug":"emperor-penguins-perish-as-ice-melts-to-new-lows-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=67726","title":{"rendered":"Emperor penguins perish as ice melts to new lows: study"},"content":{"rendered":"

Emperor penguins perish as ice melts to new lows: study<\/a><\/h3>\n

Paris (AFP) \u2013\u00a0<\/span>Colonies of emperor penguin chicks were wiped out last year as global warming eroded their icy homes, a study published Thursday found, despite the birds’ attempts to adapt to the shrinking landscape.<\/p>\n

\n
\"The<\/picture>
The study by the British Antarctic Survey found that record-low sea ice levels in 2023 contributed to the second-worst year for emperor penguin chick mortality since observations began in 2018<\/span>\u00a0\u00a9 SARAH DAWALIBI \/ AFP\/File<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
\n

The study by the British Antarctic Survey found that record-low sea ice levels in 2023 contributed to the second-worst year for emperor penguin chick mortality since observations began in 2018.<\/p>\n

It follows a “catastrophic breeding failure” in 2022, signalling long-term implications for the population, the study’s author Peter Fretwell told AFP.<\/p>\n

Emperor penguins breed on sea-ice platforms, with chicks hatching in the winter between late July and mid-August.<\/p>\n

The chicks are reared until they develop waterproof feathers, typically in December ahead of the summer melt.<\/p>\n

But if the ice melts too early, the chicks risk drowning and freezing.<\/p>\n

Fourteen of 66 penguin colonies, which can each produce several hundred to several thousand chicks in a year, were affected by early sea-ice loss in 2023, said the study published in the Journal of Antarctic Science.<\/p>\n

The result is “high if not total levels of mortality”, Fretwell said.<\/p>\n

Yet 2023 “wasn’t as bad as we feared”, he said.<\/p>\n

A record 19 colonies were affected the year before.<\/p>\n

On the move<\/strong><\/p>\n

The study also found that several colonies, particularly those ravaged the previous year, had moved in search of better conditions onto icebergs, ice shelves or more stable sea ice.<\/p>\n

While such moves offer a hopeful sign that the birds can adapt to the changing environment, Fretwell warned it was a “temporary solution”.<\/p>\n

“Penguins are limited in the amount of adaptation they can do. There are only so many places they can go,” he said.<\/p>\n

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n