by Matthew McDermott, Brooklyn, NY on 10. 9.08
Though the jury is still out on whether global warming had anything to do with large numbers of dead penguins washing ashore in Brazil back in July, according to a report from WWF if global warming increases temperatures by 2 degrees Celsius more than half of Antarctica's colonies of Emperor penguins could be wiped out.
WWF’s Antarctic Climate Change Coordinator, Juan Casavelos, described the problem as very serious, “Antarctica and the Arctic are the most threatened regions from climate change. In the Antarctic Peninsular, the temperature has risen 2.5°C in the past 50 years, which is five times faster than the global average.” Casavelos went on to describe how these temperature increases have impacted penguins:
50% Drop in Penguin Populations in 50 YearsCasavelos said that in the past 50 years in which temperatures have been rising in the Antarctic, emperor penguin populations have declined by 50 percent. On the Antarctic peninsula’s northwest coast, Adelie penguin numbers have “dropped dramatically in the past 25 years”. (Reuters)
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