<
https://www.sciencealert.com/penguin-breeding-colonies-catastrophically-failing-as-ice-vanishes-in-antarctica>
'Sea ice loss in Antarctica during 2022's emperor penguin breeding season
resulted in the complete failure of four out of the five breeding colonies in
the Bellingshausen Sea.
Satellite imagery shows none of the chicks from those sites survived.
The devastating event is the first recorded widespread breeding failure of
emperor penguins (
Aptenodytes forsteri); but, if the loss of ice due to
climate change continues, scientists warn, it won't be the last.
"We have never seen emperor penguins fail to breed, at this scale, in a single
season. The loss of sea ice in this region during the Antarctic summer made it
very unlikely that displaced chicks would survive," says cartographer Peter
Fretwell of the British Antarctic Survey.
"We know that emperor penguins are highly vulnerable in a warming climate – and
current scientific evidence suggests that extreme sea ice loss events like this
will become more frequent and widespread."'
Via Rixty Dixet.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
