Climate change killing penguins say scientists

[Judi Lynn]

Climate change killing penguins say scientists
Last updated on 29 January 2014, 5:48 pm

Climate change is already killing baby penguins in Argentina, which are badly adapted to increasing rainfall

By Sophie Yeo

Climate change is killing penguin chicks, which are ill-adapted to increased rainfall, according to scientists from the University of Washington.

Too big to be sheltered by their parents, yet too young to have developed the waterproof feathers that protect them from the rain, fewer penguin chicks are expected to live beyond childhood as a warming world disrupts weather patterns.

“We’re going to see years where almost no chicks survive if climate change makes storms bigger and more frequent during vulnerable times of the breeding season as climatologists predict,” said Ginger Rebstock, co-author of the study which was published today in the journal Plos One.

Armed only with downy feathers, instead of the waterproof coats that they later develop, increased rain and storms mean that more and more chicks will die before they reach adulthood.

This means that the chicks are unable to warm up or dry off after heavy storms in November and December, when temperatures drop. Conversely, it means that when it gets too hot, they are unable to take a dip in the water to cool off.

More:
http://www.rtcc.org/2014/01/29/climate-change-killing-penguins-say-scientists/#sthash.iNHtqExM.dpuf

[Politicalboi]

1. And the bad news keeps coming

I wish something could be done.