Five Animals That Are Threatened by Climate Change in Antarctica
- Six species of penguins live in Antarctica.penguin image by Christopher Hall from Fotolia.com
According to Bionomicfuel.com, global warming is five times more profound in Antarctica than any other place in the world. Ozone depletion caused by chlorofluorocarbons causes high-altitude clouds to form in the spring and summer Antarctic months. The nearly 5 degrees F temperature increase over the last 50 years is decreasing the thickness and surface area of the ice shelves that make up the continent. This profoundly affects the animals that call Antarctica home. - The temperature of the Southern Ocean has risen by a little over 1.5 degrees F in the last 50 years, causing the Antarctic sea urchins to leave their current home in search of more hospitable living conditions. According to a study published in the May 2010 edition of the "Journal of Experimental Biology," reduction in the atmosphere's ozone layer causes developmental damage to sea urchin embryos, with oxidative changes in their lipids and proteins. Sea ice partially shields them, but as the ice melts, the sea urchins must move or die.
- Krill, small shrimp-like crustaceans, are the primary food for a number of Antarctic birds and mammals like penguins, seals, and whales. Krill need the polar ice caps to reproduce. The shelf ice is honeycombed with small pockets where young krill can hide to elude their predators until they are larger and more mature. The increase in temperature depletes the ice cap which reduces the available shelter and diminishes the population.
Krill's small plankton food supply is also declining. As the krill population shrinks, animals further up the food chain could starve. - Emperor penguins are the largest penguin species in the Antarctic. They typically lay their eggs on the dry ground during the short Antarctic spring. Global warming extends the spring snowfalls, forcing the penguins to lay their eggs on the snow. When the snow melts, many eggs rot, reducing the population.
According to an ABC News story, "Animals Affected by Global Warming," the Antarctic melting season lasted an additional three weeks in 2007 than it did several decades ago --- and it continues to lengthen. The ice melt decreases the Emperor penguins' food supply and habitat so the penguin population has decreased to 20 percent of its previous level. - According to Alister Doyle, author of "Antarctic Sea Creatures Hypersensitive to Global Warming," the Antarctic giant marine woodlouse can survive only within a very narrow temperature range. With the warming of the Southern Sea, these sea creatures may be in danger of eventual extinction.
- Limpets are another Antarctic species in jeopardy. Mr. Doyle reports that when the water warms, limpets lose their ability to turn themselves over when they are flipped upside down. He points out that the skill is necessary to their survival in an environment where icebergs scrape along the shallows.
