Antarctica's Adelie Penguins Extinct in a Decade?

Adélie penguins in Antarctica are in the midst of a major upheaval as climate change causes their icy habitat to warm up, experts say. Some populations of the birds are thriving, but most are declining rapidly.

The penguins rely on winter sea ice as a platform for feeding on ocean krill. But they also need the ice to shrink in the summer so they can access their breeding colonies on land.

The mid-latitudes of the Antarctic Peninsula once provided the perfect habitat for the penguins—but not anymore. "That region has experienced the most rapid warming during winter on the planet," said Bill Fraser, an ecologist with the Polar Oceans Research Group in Sheridan, Montana. "The mid-winter temperatures are now around 10.8 degrees Fahrenheit <6 degrees Celsius> higher than they were 50 years ago."

If the trend continues, Fraser predicts that Adélie penguins will be locally extinct within five to ten years.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/12/071228-penguins-extinct.html

"But it's not all bad news for the Adélies, said Fraser of the Polar Oceans Research Group.

As the Antarctic Peninsula heats up, southern parts of Antarctica have become more hospitable homes for the species.

Adélie populations in the far southern peninsula have tripled in previous decades, Fraser said.

And ice-intolerant penguin species, such as chinstrap and gentoo penguins, are moving into the warmer Antarctic habitats once occupied by the Adélies.

Since 1974 gentoos have increased in number by 7,500 percent and chinstraps by 2,700 percent.

"We joke that gentoos are going to take over the world," Fraser said.

However the danger remains that all parts of Antarctica could warm past the Adélies' ideal temperature range.

"Pound for pound, an Adélie penguin can deal with just about anything," Fraser said.

"To see them being affected so dramatically by climate change, it's particularly hard to bear."

It is good to have the whole picture.