On the Long Peninsula in eastern Antarctica consist a massive , ancient necropolis that differentiate the floor of what climate change could attend like in the time to come . Buried beneath layers of deposit are hundreds of mummified Adélie penguins that died out in two mass event over the last 1,000 years .
publish their body of work in theJournal of Geophysical Research : Biogeosciences , research worker have learned that both issue – one 750 twelvemonth ago and the other 200 – were due to laboured blow or rain over multiple decades that put up to flooding , erosion , and a expiration of suitable nesting habitat for the penguins . Now , the conditions that caused these last two die - offs are potential to become more unwashed because of climate modification .
For 3,900 year , Adélie penguin have only lived in Antarctica . Scientists C dated the ages of the penguin mummies they found , most of which were bird , as well as deposit , feces , and nesting material , all of which indicated a shift in the Southern Annular Mode – a wind practice in the Southern Ocean that drift wet air to East Antarctica – was probably responsible for the mass mortality issue .
This wet air have an growth in hastiness . Penguin chicks miss the down feathers needed to survive utmost colds , and with increased rainfall , they can get sick , hypothermic , and ultimately snuff it . As well , snow makes it difficult for parents to ascertain pebbles or suitable habitats for their nest , and if it melt it can submerge their eggs .
Today , nearly one - third of the birds(Pygoscelis adeliae)live in the realm of Long Peninsula with around 45,000 gentility duo in the summer at around 250 site , forming large Colony along the glide . But climate change could make a displacement in the Southern Annular Mode all the more potential , further threatening penguin species .
“ The recent clime movement in Antarctica , including heighten [ weather ] patterns and increase precipitation , suggest that the risk of penguin fatality rate event is likely to increase , ” write the authors .
A third mass mortality upshot occur in more late years during menses of perpetual pelting and snowfall during 2013 and after in2017when just two of about 40,000 penguin chicks outlast .
Despite their tumultuous yesteryear , Adélie penguin have since seen theirpopulation numbers rise .
