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| The King Penguin in its flirting phase Scientific name: Aptenodytes patagonicus |
With the rising temperatures in the Arctic region and throughout the world, there must be an issue that is apparent. One of these Problems is the King Penguin, the changing temperatures affect these animals so drastically, that by 2100 the King Penguin will have to find a new habitat, that is much cooler. King Penguins are the second-largest penguin species, the first being the Emperor Penguin.
Since the temperatures are rising in the air, so does the ocean, with this new rise of heat, not only are the penguins affected but the fish. The fish with the new temperature must adjust to it, this is known as range shift. Range Shift is the natural reaction to the sudden rise or drops in temperature; it affects long-term migratory movements. With the temperature off the charts the penguins, who enjoy dining on fish will soon need to find a new main dish.
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| The graph depicts how temperature has risen and the number of penguins have decreased |
The fish tend to favor over colder water, making it almost impossible to catch them, the parents will have to travel longer and farther out to find fish for their children. Without a flourishing supply of fish, the downfall of the Penguin population is near.
In today's world with more and more industries popping out of nowhere, we might not know where climate change is happening, but yet we do studies have shown the area where temperatures are fluctuating the most is Antartica.
Here are some facts on penguins ~
- Penguins lost the ability to fly, but they are the fastest swimming species of any birds. They can stay underwater for 20 minutes.
- Penguins swim so fast that they propel themselves 7 feet above the water. The technique porpoising, the method is adapted by dolphins.
- Penguins can drink salt water; they can do this because they have a special gland that filters salt from the bloodstream.
Discussion Questions:
- What is your favorite penguin?
- What should be done to help not only penguins but other animals that are affected by climate change?
- What economical and political issue does climate change bring up?
- What does the decrease of penguins mean for the planet earth?
- With the sea levels rising, how does this affect the citizens and their homes?
- What human activities are we doing to speed up the process of climate change?
- What are some ways you can slow down the process of climate change?
-nick lee
This is just another animal to add to the list of species going extinct due to the change in climate. It's truly interesting to see how many are still in denial claiming that global warming doesn't exist, when things like this continue to happen. Eventually humans won't be able to survive on the earth because of the increase see level, lack of animals, or strength of natural disasters. It's important to realize that everything is connected. Loosing one species leads to the overpopulation of another which could have several repercussions we are currently not aware of. Our focus should be limiting out carbon emissions in order to slower the affects of global warming. Coming together as one Earth is necessary to protect our planet.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, my favorite penguin species is the emperor penguin just because of how adorable the babies are. But on the point of climate change, like Kelsey has said above, the changes in the environment that is caused by the higher variability in the Earth's climate has caused massive disturbances on organism's around the world. The ocean surface temperatures, for instance have risen in variability almost 1 degree Fahrenheit since the 1971-2000 average as indicated by a graph published by the EPA. This may not seem like a lot but the ocean is basically a giant sponge that absorbs everything the environment throws at it. To raise the average temperature of all of the ocean water around the world would require a tremendous amount of energy to do so. This acts as a clear indicator to the presence of the human influence on climate change. This rise in temperature in the ocean also comes at the cost of the melting of ice caps that raise the sea levels. This would in turn flood many major cities and completely submerge them if the current carbon emissions are not decreased. To slow down climate change, as a unified world, we all have to rid of the usage of fossil fuels and change to renewable energy, and limit the ecological and environmental changes that humans exert on surrounding environments. After all, the Earth has been surviving with life for the last 3.5 billion years. Allowing other life forms to survive will only ensure stability and help the effort of saving the Earth.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite type of penguins are crested penguins, because they look super cool, are penguins, and are the ones from surf's up. One thing that can be done, is trying to limit and reduce carbon emissions, so that their habitat can continue to thrive and survive. These actions are somewhat contreversal, however as tragedies like these continue to happen, more people will convinced of the validity of climate change. Another big eye opener could be rising sea levels throughout the world. Once this is realized, people will stop using gas powered cars, and being incognizant of what they are throwing away to landfills, and start riding bikes, and installing solar panels so that penguins can survive. Also did you know that fossils place the earliest penguin relative at some 60 million years ago, meaning an ancestor of the birds we see today survived the mass extinction of the dinosaurs.
ReplyDeleteWith the sea levels rising the citizens of certain places in the world are susceptible the negative affects of this. Places such as the islands in the world will be flooded and they will eventually cease to exist as the water rises. The citizens in the islands will be forced to move to other places in the world and like the penguins they might not be able to live in the new habitat that they are given. In order for this to not occur then we need to stop the CO2 emissions in the world. Of course stopping of all emissions is impossible and just not ethical but the decreasing of the emissions released is. This could possibly save the islands and penguins from having to suffer from relocating or from ceasing to exist.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite type of penguin is the emperor penguin. I agree with cameron the the babies are super cute. Addressing the topic of climate change, I believe that preventing global warming should be highly prioritized as a global issue. Not only is global warming causing the species living in cold climates to go extinct, but it is also causing other problems, such as rising ocean levels, which is a huge issue for the coastal regions of the world. If sea levels continue to rise, they may eventually cause small islands and coastal regions to flood, forcing many people to evacuate their homes. Burning fossil fuels is the main cause of climate change. To prevent or slow down further damage to the planet, we should use try to use renewable energy, and try to carpool or take public transport to reduce emissions. The penguins going extinct only further proves that the same is happening to many other species. To preserve these species, and the diversity of life on this planet, the issue of climate change must be made a priority.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite penguin species is the little penguin, scientific name Eudyptula minor, and although it is fun I’m not sure how relevant this information is. But getting to the more serious questions, I do think that humans need to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions because it not only negatively affects us, but also wildlife around the world, and with any with any animal that is negatively affected by humans, I think that we must take steps to help them because we put them in the poor situations they are in and any species of animal going completely extinct is bad. However, with penguins, especially King and Emperor penguins, I don’t see much we can do when it comes to the ice caps melting because we don’t seem to be reducing the amount of greenhouse gases we emit and the amount that is already in the atmosphere is already doing drastic damage to the ice caps, and according to Bird Life International, the population of Emperor penguins is projected to decrease by 20-29% over the next three generations and this is because the decrease in ice thickness makes it more difficult for them to find suitable breeding areas. Climate change brings up a whole slurry of economic and political issues because almost everyone has a different opinion on how climate change should be handled. The penguins dying off is just like any other animal or organism going extinct, it throws off the balance of the ecosystems they used to be a part of and may lead to other changes in populations of animals or behaviors of animals, which can be very detrimental to agriculture or fishing industries. However, with climate change affecting both humans and animals, it brings an interesting decision, do we save the animals who are suffering and about to go extinct or do we help humans affected by climate change? From my point of view I think it is fairly obvious that we make human aid a priority over any animals, but that doesn’t really bode well for the ecosystems of the world.
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DeleteMy favorite type of penguin is the emperor penguin. On the topic of climate change, I believe that we humans are the main problem. We need to lessen the amount of carbon emissions produced so that the wild life won't struggle to survive due to the change of weather. If we can stop carbon emissions from increasing, this could help the environment for the animals and life from getting worse then it already is. As a whole, the countries should decrease their carbon emissions and maybe move to more renewable fuels like wind and water instead of fossil fuels like oil and coal. As we previously learned, the ice all around the world is melting, and it would cause the sea level to rise. This would affect so many countries and communities all around the world. People would be forced to move out of their homes and find another place to live. The land covering the Earth will get smaller and cities are going to be filled with more and more people if this keeps happening. This is a serious problem for all people and wild life. Global warming could lead to more effective changes and adaptions to the environment. Species could become extinct. We need to cut carbon emissions and make a change to climate change.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite penguin is the chinstrap penguin as I find it unique and quite cute. Though the extinction of penguins is not the most impactful, all changes in any ecosystem could have devastating impacts on their environment. Fish could begin to overpopulate without a major predator. Because we need to prevent the extinction of species, we need to stop using fossil fuels, as that harms the environment. We need to focus on using alternative energy sources that are renewable.
ReplyDeleteWith sea levels rising, people and their houses will be affected. Houses will get flooded. FLoods also affect agriculture and animals. For example, if glaciers melt, the fresh water will change the salty sea water and potentially kill off marine species.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Andrew. My favorite penguin is also the chinstrap penguin because they're regal yet goofy with admirable chins. The migration of fish not only affects penguins, it affects other animals, as well as fishermen who depend on those fish for money. Ways we can mitigate the effects of climate change are developing sustainable energy sources. We can also be more environmentally aware by consuming less energy. On a different note, did you know that the chinstrap penguin gets its name from the black band of fur on its chin that makes it look like it's wearing a helmet? This is fitting because they're considered the most aggressive penguin species. (source: coolaustralia.org)
ReplyDeleteMy favorite penguin is the Emperor Penguin because of their vibrant colors and the way they look so soft. I think that people should donate to organizations to support important research that would benefit wildlife health regarding disease, treatment, and prevention. One issue that climate change brings up, on an economical standpoint, would be the production of crops. Climate change affects agriculture. For example, floods and droughts have directly impacted the production of crops in many places. Climate change is a political issue because some countries choose to not participate in climate change discussions or just simply chose to ignore climate change. The decrease of penguins will directly affect the food web that they are in. Predators of penguins will now have nothing to eat or less to eat because of the rising temperatures which are forcing the penguins to find new habitats. With the sea levels rising near low-lying Pacific islands, this has caused flooding to occur and has destroyed communities that are nearby. Citizens are being forced to evacuate and must find other living accommodations in their country or become refugees.
ReplyDeleteFor the planet, the decrease in penguins will cause a "ripple affect" in the region in which the penguins live. If a species of penguins becomes extinct, there will be an increase in the population of fish they eat. Also, the animals that eat penguins will have one less food source. Additionally, countries all around the world will begin to see the affects of melting glaciers. Many cities along coasts, like Florida, will see flooding that will cause huge losses around the world. This will be the result of more frequent extreme weather events. This happens when the ocean temperature increases. This is just one result of global warming, and each change produces a new detrimental result.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite penguin is the Galapagos penguin because they are really short and walk around with their flippers out. To help penguins and other animals who are becoming endangered from climate change, people should study them to bring more awareness and possibly relocate some of them to safer places. If penguins go extinct, their predators would also be endangered and their prey would multiply and overwhelm ecosystems, affecting our food sources. Climate change is a political and economic issue because some people don't want to invest in stopping climate change so politicians can gain support by promising they will focus on the economy rather than climate change.
ReplyDeleteThe decrease for penguins means that for planet earth, the Antarctic has less interest focused on it. Most of the kids learn about Antarctica and penguins as a set. and not many people would just say Antarctica is where the penguins used to live. It would just not have any impact towards kids and that in turn lower the kids interest in Antarctica, one of the key factors in determining the effects and countermeasures for climate change. With the next generation's interest in such a vital place fading, less people would go there, especially because of the cold. This in turn affects people's awareness of the issue. Another point is that penguins play an important role in keeping the marine life populations in check. Without one of the predators culling them, the fish would grow out of control and push other marine life out of food and home, causing a total collapse of the marine life ecosystem in the vicinity of Antarctica.
ReplyDeleteClimate change is a big political issue, as we have been studying in class; our Republican president and his cabinet are reluctant to fight climate change (as we know, Trump believes climate change is a hoax created by China), a major setback to many other countries who are attempting to reduce carbon emissions. However, it is not just the US who is resisting; a lot of poorer countries do not want to reduce their carbon emissions because it would slow their economic growth. These countries do not have as many resources as more financially available countries have to stop or slow industrialization and focus on "going green" rather than actually develop their country. In addition, the extinction of penguins would affect their ecosystem and food chain, as Andrew and Abby have mentioned. With the absence of penguins, fish would proliferate without as many predators. Penguins' predators would also suffer greatly without enough prey. Rising sea levels are a particular concern for us, who live in an area that is particularly subject to going underwater in future. If you look at this rising sea levels map (http://news.berkeley.edu/2018/03/07/sinking-land-will-exacerbate-flooding-from-sea-level-rise-in-bay-area/), the San Francisco Bay shoreline is at risk of flooding by 2100. SFO and Foster City would be at most risk of flooding, as they are right by the bay. There will have to be major relocation to save citizens from going under not only in the Bay Area, but places on the East Coast.
ReplyDeleteI like all types of penguins. Many other people also love penguins. Therefore, we should do something about climate change in order to help penguins and other animals as well. Unfortunately, many people, including Trump, do not believe in climate change. This confuses me because of all the facts and data we gathered and clearly shows that our earth is warming up dramatically. For penguins, their food supply are swimming further away causing the penguins to swim further to catch them. This is a problem because many of the penguins do not make it back alive which is devastating. This type of issue is also true for many other animals. For us, the sea level is rising which causes some places that are near the water to flood their homes. People are forced to leave their homes because it is completely flooded by the sea level rising. This is a huge issue for those people. Some human activity we are doing is emitting huge amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Us humans should find alternatives quicker to slow down the emissions of greenhouse gases. If we do not act quick, according to many articles, Florida and the Bay Area may be under water. (we saw this fact in class) Starting now, we have to do as much as we can to slow down the process of climate change by using alternative solutions and spreading the words so other people can help too.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite type of penguin is the emperor penguin. To help animals affected by climate change, people should try to use energy sources that are healthier for our environment. People should try to burn less fossil fuels and put less pollution into the air. People could use more electronic cars for example. Climate change brings up man issues. It is very costly because new energy sources would be expensive to make. Also, poor countries who want to build their economy are suffering the effects of climate change due to the wealthy indutrialized countries. The poor countries think it is unfair that they have to sacrifice their economy because the wealthy countries are polluting the environment. The wealthy countries are reluctant to slow their economic progress by protecting the environment. Also, many people, like Trump, deny tat climate change is real. This is false because much evidence proves that the Earth is getting warmer, causing ice to melt, which makes sea levels rise. Also the water temperature gets warmer, which kills many organisms who need a secific temputature to survive. When sea levels rise, lands get flooded, and people are either killed or forced to find new homes. They have to go to new areas and start their lives over again, which is very difficult. We are burning a lot of fossil fuels and emitting a lot of greenhouse gases to speed up climate change. Some ways I can slow the process of climate change is use public transportation instead of driving a car, carpool with people, or use an electronic car.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite specie of penguins are the African penguins. Mentioning penguins can additionally motivate people to help the issue of climate change. Some people may not believe in Climate change, but climate change is definitely a major issue. You can see in our oceans, our water levels are rising and some islands in the future can perhaps disappear because of the water levels rising. Furthermore, the fact that penguins becoming extinct could really affect the food chain and also could possibly affect the income from zoos. We need to stop climate change now. Even if we're slowly decreasing the use of fossil fuels, it is drastically better than doing nothing about the issue. Some things we could do everyday is to walk to our occupations and schools instead of driving there.
ReplyDeletehttp://education.seattlepi.com/list-ways-reduce-use-fossil-fuels-3725.html
My favorite penguins are baby Emperor penguins. The Emperor penguins being forced to relocate is only one of many other species that have and are still being affected by climate change. As long as we continue to pump out gas emissions into the air, we continue to be part of the global affair of climate change. If you are in a boat with a hole on the side, just dumping the water out of the boat won't stop the water from coming in; you have to plug the hole. So in order to combat climate change, we have to think about the root of the problem, which is the burning of fossil fuels. We need to start acting and strongly encourage energy companies to switch to renewable energy sources. As ordinary people, the rest of us can also help by mitigating our own carbon footprint, such as riding our bikes more often and reducing our trash, which reduces the amount of plastics produced. We need to realize that we are the ones who are causing the penguins to lose their home due to a drastic increase in temperature, which had not been the case before the issue of billions of tons of greenhouse gas emissions being pumped into the air. Furthermore, climate change affects humans just as much as animals. People living in coastal cities will be forced to relocate. Farmers will have to adjust their crops in order to suit the onset of more severe droughts, unpredictable storms, and rainfall. If we continue to spew out greenhouse gases the way we are now, everyone will suffer, especially the countries that were not part of the problem. Poorer countries have less resources and money to support humanitarian programs or overcoming any disasters and emergencies.
ReplyDeleteCharlotte I agree with your opinion and how we as humans are affecting the earth. Adding on to your point how humans should, help one another and should provide for one another. Studies by NASA delivered that 97% of climate change was due to human activities. We live in California and most of us experienced the effects of the drought, it costed us more than $50 billion in produce. The idea of having such a drastic effect from our tiny motions. Lastly I like your choice on the baby Emperor Penguin, my favorite penguin is the Southern Rockhopper Penguin. I really enjoyed your comment.
DeleteFirst off, my favorite type of penguin is the endangered African penguin. The rising sea levels are not only a threat to many species that rely on certain types of ocean conditions, but also the people who live near the ocean. Ocean levels rising would mean millions of people's homes being destroyed and people having to start their lives over. A major problem about climate change in general is people not realizing how much their carbon footprint and their actions are truly effecting the planet they call home. Even buying certain products that one wouldn't think twice about, are having an effect on climate change. Since these companies are huge contributors to carbon emissions and greenhouse gas emissions. In order to change this, we need to take action and it needs to be fast. Spreading the word, getting more people in the know is a great way to help the cause, especially making younger generations aware so they can grow up and make a change. If we want to stop the impending doom that climate change will have on this planet, then we need to act fast and effectively.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite type of penguin, like most people, are baby Emperor penguins. I think that climate change is a serious issue and it should be a priority for everyone because the effects of climate change are so dangerous that it can cause our world to be uninhabitable in the future. All the animals living in our world are greatly affected by climate change and in order to help save their population we must look to a future without burning fossils fuels, but rather using renewable energy sources. Each individual can also contribute to the reduction of fossil fuels being burned by doing simple things in their community. For instance plastic bags, water bottles, many plant fertilizers, and most cosmetics are all made from oil. Reducing people’s demand for these things is one way of decreasing carbon emissions. In regards to economy, Temperature rise due to climate change may radically damage the global economy and slow growth in the coming decades if nothing is done to slow the pace of warming. According to an article in TIME, “temperature change due to unmitigated global warming will leave global GDP per capita 23% lower in 2100 than it would be without any warming.” In regards to the community and the lives of individuals, sea levels rising is extremely dangerous for the people who live near large bodies of water because their entire houses can be destroyed due to flooding leaving them with no proper shelter or care. I think that we as humans are a major cause for global warming and we need to strive to shift the world’s energy sources from coal, oil, and gas, to zero-carbon energy sources like wind, solar, and nuclear.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite type of penguin is the Magellanic penguin. Climate change is clearly a big issue and it is affecting everyone across the planet. Many animal species are becoming extinct due to the increased levels of CO2 in the air causing the Earth to become warmer. We must try to combat these problems by switching our energy sources to renewable energies. We can easily change some of our ways by using more public transport or reducing the amount of plastic we use all contributions to climate change. We can also implement the carbon tax to get people to think about how they use their resources as people do not like paying money and in order to save it they will have to change some of their ways. We need to educate some people on the realities of climate change as there are many people who deny that this is real. In order to prevent future problems we must use a little bit more money and try to solve it now rather than have to deal with the aftereffects of the horrendous disasters that will occur due to us not taking care of the Earth.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite kind of penguin in the Galapagos penguin, specifically the baby ones :). I would definitely say that climate change and the way it will affect/is affecting the penguins is a BIG problem. As the population of penguins decreases, the world will not only be losing one of the, dare I say, cutest species on the planet, but the world will also feel the ripple effects of the population decrease. Ecosystem are delicately balanced. If one species' population is off, then the whole ecosystem will feel the effects. When a ecosystem is failing, the whole globe feels the effects. NOW is the time for us to change our ways and try to save not only the penguins, but our whole planet. We simply cannot afford to wait any longer, for our hazardous actions have already gone on for far to long. If we can't do this for ourselves, we can at least do it for the penguins and other species of the world who cannot help themselves. They don't deserve to be harmed by our actions.
ReplyDeleteProtecting plants and animals from extinction is important because they constitute a large percentage of our food and medicine. If the rate of global warming increases at the same rate as the last few decades, another mass extinction of thousands of species will occur. Global warming also causes glaciers to melt more quickly, leading to rising sea levels, which not only impacts animals such as polar bears and penguins but also people living on islands or in coastal cities. The only way to stop this from happening is to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by using clean energy like solar, wind or nuclear energy instead of coal, oil, and gas. Countries that emit the most greenhouse gases need to pass laws immediately to reduce their impact on climate change before it is too late.
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