By: Henry Fountain
With the difficult lives that Magellanic penguins already have, they are in for another surprise. (Fountain). With their struggles with predation and starvation, now they are dealing with climate change. This study has been going on for many years, looking at these birds in Punta Tombo, Argentina. Here in Argentina, there are huge storms, damaging habitat, and making it even more difficult to find food. In addtion, with the harsh warm temperatures, these penguins are having a very hard time. "Rainfall is killing a lot of penguins, and so is heat," said P. Dee Boersma, a University of Washington scientist and lead author of the study. "And those are two new causes." (Fountain 1). Another component that is contributing to these intense storms is the release of greenhouse gases.
"For this study, the researchers compiled data on nearly 3,500 chicks that they meticulously tracked by checking nests once or twice a day throughout the six-month breeding season, which starts in September." (Fountain 1). In a result of this, they had discovered that most of these birds died from the intense storms. When these penguins first hatch, they are so vulnerable and are protected by their parents the first week of being born. "Since 1987, the number of breeding pairs in the colony has declined 24 percent, said Dr. Boersma." (Fountain 1). There is so much that these penguins experience the first weeks of being born and now they have to survive throughout warm temperature and harsh storms. (Fountain).
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/30/science/earth/climate-change-taking-toll-on-penguins-study-finds.html
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