Since a single warm day can stress Adelie penguins to the point of collapse and death…it may come as no surprise that Antarctic climate change is an especially big concern.
In addition to the well-known effects of glacier and ice shelf melt, warming temperatures could alter penguin food sources and nesting habitats.
But a new study suggests that the biggest threat to Adelie and chinstrap penguins may be another human activity: commercial fishing…
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“It’s certainly not good news for these penguin populations if they’re facing both of these climate impacts as well as direct exploitation,” Moore says. “That’s a one-two-three punch.”
“It means that their populations are likely to decline rather rapidly unless we start getting serious about fisheries regulation.”
Does Climate Change Threaten Penguins?
The most significant threat to the Adelie and chinstrap penguins is climate change and commercial fishing.
“It’s certainly not good news for these penguin populations if they’re facing both of these climate impacts as well as direct exploitation,” Moore says. “That’s a one-two-three punch.”
The biggest threat to Adelie and chinstrap penguins is that it is facing climate change in addition to commercial fishing.
Climate change is a major threat to penguins because a single warm day can stress penguins to the point of collapse and death. In addition to the well-known effects of glacier and ice shelf melt, warming temperatures could alter penguin food sources and nesting habitats.
However, a new study has found that fisheries are also impacting Adelie and chinstrap penguins. “It means that their populations are likely to decline rather rapidly unless we start getting serious about fisheries regulation.”
Now that we shared more about the threat that climate change and commercial fishing are having on penguin species, it’s time to learn more and educate others in ways in which we can help keep penguins flourishing. We hope that this article has inspired you to do more to help all of the penguins of the world!