Climate change can erase the king penguin species

According to a recent French study published Monday, warning that one of the symbols of Antarctica - the king of penguins - may be erased by climate change.

In a long-term investigation of the main breeding area of ​​penguins, the monitoring experts noticed a warming phenomenon in the southern sea due to the impact of El Nino phenomenon that made the survival ability of This bird is in serious decline. They said that if the predictions of the United Nations scientists on the temperature will increase in the coming decades is correct, then the penguin species will face the danger of extinction.

At a size just below the emperor penguin, the king penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus) lives on the islands of the Antarctic belt south of the Indian Sea with an estimated 2 million pairs of broodstock.

This bird is quite unusual in that it takes them a year to complete the breeding cycle - from the stage of pairing, laying eggs, incubating eggs to taking care of the young. With extended periods throughout the winter and summer in Antarctica, they are prone to starvation when the food source is seasonal so they can hatch and take care of young birds.

A princess penguin ( Aptenodytes patagonicus ) on ice at sunset towards Auster beach near Mawson (Australia) research station in the South Pole region of Australia. According to a recent French study published Monday warning one of the symbols of Antarctica - the species of the penguin king - may be erased by climate change. (Photo: Physorg)

Their main food is small fish and squid that live on krill. These crustaceans are extremely sensitive to rising temperatures.

The team led by Yvon Le Maho of the National Center for Scientific Research (France) followed 456 penguins on a large breeding area of ​​Possession Island in the southern Crozet archipelago thanks to an electronic card. subcutaneous.

They buried the antennae on familiar penguin routes and connected them to a computer that automatically recorded the time when penguins came and went. The monitoring program was conducted from November 1997 to April 2006. This is the time of the El Nino phenomenon - a cyclical warming that is not related to climate change.

During El Nino, early-born penguins were quite tolerant, while late-born pups were severely affected by warming seas that made food sources scarce. But the overall effect on all individuals can only be seen two years ago, due to the long cycle of penguin breeding.

According to Le Maho's calculations, if the sea surface temperature rises to only about 0.25 ^o C (equivalent to 0.45 ^o F), the survival of adult penguins will decrease by 9%.

According to the weather table of the United Nations scientists who won the Nobel Prize, in the next two decades the average global temperature will increase by about 0.2 ^° C (equivalent to 0.35 ^o F) per decade. . This is also part of a longer warming period of this century.

Scientists say: 'Our study wants to say that the number of king penguins is in serious danger of extinction according to the current global warming predictions.'

The article on the research is published in the second edition of the Proceedings of the National Acedemy of Sciences .