The Life of Penguins in The Artic and How

Global Warming is Changing Their Environment

Tanner Hancock

Contents

Abstract 2
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How do Penguins Survive in The Antarctic? 2

How are Penguins Effected by Climate Change? 3

What Can We Do to Stop the Artic Melt and Help the Penguins? 5

Stopping Climate Change 5

Increasing The Penguins Food Supply 5

Stopping Human Interference 5

Conclusion 5

References 6

Figures

Figure 1 2

Figure 2 3

Figure 3 4

Abstract
Penguins are flightless seabirds that are awkward on land and adept in the water. They
have many different species with different defining characteristics. Something that may
be surprising is that penguins don’t only live in the Antarctic. Some penguins live in
environments that are hot and dry, like the Humboldt penguin that lives on the coast of
the Atacama Desert (Danielle).
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Penguins have adapted well to their different environments. Different species of

penguins in the Antarctic have fascinating behaviors that allow them to survive in the
harsh environment they live in. An example is the way the huddle to preserve heat
during the harsh winters (Danielle). While penguins are so good at adapting to their
environments, global warming is changing the Antarctic too fast for them to adapt. If
the Antarctic keeps melting at its current rate, then penguins, and many other species in
the Antarctic will start disappearing.
To stop penguins from disappearing we must stop climate change, stop overfishing, and
stop humans from harming them. We can do this by implementing strict laws on carbon
emissions, fishing, and who can go near penguin colonies.

How do Penguins Survive in The Antarctic?

Penguins’ main strength is their ability to maneuverer in the ocean. They are like
torpedoes when they’re in the water, they can swim deep into the water and for long
distances (Danielle). Different species of penguins travel at different speeds, and some
swim in the water in different ways. The Gentoo penguins are especially fast in the
water, they gain extra speed by jumping out of the water while swimming (Walters).
They incorporate this tactic when they need extra speed to escape danger. Their
tuxedoed skin is also a tool they use to escape predators. Their black backs blend in with
the top of the water and their white bellies blend in with the bright sunlight when at
them looking from below (Danielle).
They also have incredible adaptations that allow them to eat and drink the water. While
penguins look for fresh water to keep themselves hydrated, they also drink a lot of salt
water from being in the ocean so long. They have a gland located above their eye called
the supraorbital gland. The supraorbital gland filters salt from their bloodstream. The
salt exits their body through their nose by sneezing it out (Walters).

Figure 1. A penguin swimming so its belly blends in with the sunlight.

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Instead of having teeth they have fleshy spines in their mouth to help them get fish
down their throats (Walters). They eat around 2 pounds of fish a day, but during the
harsh parts of the winter this goes down drastically. They also hunt to feed their
children as well. Parent penguins catch food, partially digest it, and then regurgitate it to
their children. This is important for them to do because young penguins don’t have fully
developed stomachs so they wouldn’t be able to digest the food all the way on their
own (Walters).

How are Penguins Effected by Climate Change?

Penguins that live in the Antarctic are strongly affected by climate change, because the
Antarctic is heating up faster than any place in the world. The increase in temperature is
causing ice to melt which not only directly harms the penguins but many other species
they depend on to survive (Wolf).
Krill are a type of crustacean that Penguins use as a primary food source. In some areas
Penguins are especially depended on Krill instead of fish because of overfishing. Krill
feast on sea algae that forms on the bottom of ice bergs. Krill are dependent on this sea
algae to survive. With the melting of the ice bergs the Krill population is decreasing by as
much as 80% in some areas (Wolf). Penguins aren’t the only ones competing to eat
these Krill. Many different whales and fish also eat these Krill so there is competition.
Also, some fish that the Penguins eat need to eat these Krill as well (Martin).

Figure 2. An Antarctic Krill

Emperor penguins often have their chicks on sea ice. Since the ice is melting much
quicker than it used to it breaks off from land before their chicks are matured and
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grown up enough to survive on their own. Many of the chicks on these ice chunks get
swept into the ocean and die (Wolf).
Adélie Penguins rear their chicks on small areas within the Antarctic that are free of
snow. Some regions have more snow because of the increased moisture in the air. The
Adélie Penguins cannot find any place to lay their eggs in these areas, because it is all
covered in snow. In other areas snow melts and the areas are left as very muddy soil.
The Adélie Penguin isn’t very fond of this muddy environment either, especially because
the Chinstrap and Gentoo penguins are (Wolf). These other groups of penguins come
into areas that were previously just Adélie breeding grounds and start taking their
space. However, the Adélie penguins can’t just get up and leave these areas. Once they
have started rearing their chicks, they need to stay with them until they have grown
enough to move on their own (Wolf).
The Emperor and Adélie penguins struggle in these new conditions brought on by Global
warming. Surprisingly the Gentoo penguins have benefited from these changes in a lot
of areas, but with the decreasing food supply the short-term benefits will not out way
the long-term detriments (Wolf). If the temperature continues to rise the population of
the Emperor and Adélie penguins will certainly become very scarce.

Figure 3. A group of Adélie penguins

What Can We Do to Stop the Arctic Melt and Help the Penguins?
Stopping Climate Change
The Arctic is melting because of the effects caused by climate change. Stopping climate
change will be the key in saving the Arctic. If we continue to disregard climate change
like are currently the global temperatures will rise an average of 2.8 to 4 degrees Celsius
(Wolf). That temperature increase will wreak havoc on the Arctic and the animals that
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live there. This massive increase in temperature will disrupt the entire food chain. It will
not only wipe out penguins but all most all the struggling species in the Arctic.
To stop the Arctic melt we don’t just need to stop the increase of carbon dioxide
emissions. We need to reduce the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by from
385 parts per million to 350 parts per million to prevent dangerous climate levels (Wolf).
Since we have already released so many greenhouse gases into the air, stopping
emissions alone will not prevent the negative effects of this damage to the atmosphere.
To help the penguins, we must combat the other ways we are harming them, not just
carbon emissions (Wolf).
Increasing The Penguins Food Supply
Other ways we can help the Penguins and other organisms in the Arctic is by stopping
overfishing practices. Fishing practices in the Arctic region put great strain on the
animals who depend on fish as their meals. Not only do they take food from Penguins
who depend on these fish to eat, fishing nets often catch penguins in them. When
penguins are caught in fishing nets they usually drown (Wolf).
Stopping Human Interference
Penguins are also susceptible to many different things’ humans introduce into their
environments. Since many penguins inbreed in their colonies their gene pools are often
not very diverse. If they are introduced to a new deadly disease, they are susceptible to
having their whole colony wiped out. Human interaction is one of the ways that they
can be introduced to a disease (Martin). Creating laws to stop people from people
harming penguins is necessary to keep their species alive.

Conclusion
Penguins are important creatures to the Antarctic environment and if we don’t change
our policies, they will go extinct. We must advocate for policy changes to stop polluting
the air, so the Artic ice doesn’t melt. We also need to advocate for changing the policies
around fishing. Penguins are heavily dependent on these fish to live. We have the power
to save Penguins, but we must unite. The world needs to come together and hold each
other accountable to stop polluting and destroying some of the most beautiful habitats
on our planet.
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References

“It's Not Black and White: the Effect of UV Radiation on Penguins.” Copernicus,
atmosphere.copernicus.eu/its-not-black-and-white-effect-uv-radiation-penguins.
“2021 World Penguin Day: Star of Antarctica.” 404, news.cgtn.com/news/2021-04-
25/2021-World-Penguin-Day-Star-of-Antarctica-ZK4w70wnew/index.html.
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Danielle Hall Reviewed by Bill Fraser. “Penguins.” Smithsonian Ocean, 8 July 2021,
ocean.si.edu/ocean-life/seabirds/penguins.
Waters, Hannah. “14 Fun Facts About Penguins.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian
Institution, 25 Apr. 2013, www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/14-fun-facts-
about-penguins-41774295/.
Wolf, Shaye. “Climate Change Threatens Penguins.” ActionBioScience,
www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/media-archive/Penguins_ActionBioscience_9-09.pdf.
Martin, Stephen. Penguin. Reaktion, 2009.