Modern World 15
1 The penguin is now an endangered species. This is due to serious changes taking place in Antarctica. Rising temperatures as a result of global warming are causing the ice in Antarctica to disappear at a disturbing rate. Scientists are very concerned by the enormous changes that are taking place in the penguin populations. Some of the populations have declined up to 50 percent in the last 30 years. On one island, the number of breeding penguins has dropped from 1.7 million in the 1940s to about 100,000 today.
2 It has always been a challenge for penguins to survive, but climate change has made it still more difficult. At the end of summer, most penguins in Antarctica begin pushing their newborn chicks towards the waters of the Southern Ocean, where they will take their first swim. But only about half of the penguin chicks actually reach the sea. Some are eaten by foxes, snakes and birds of prey. And many of those that succeed in reaching the sea do not survive. About half of the chicks that reach the water are eaten by hungry predators after they dive in.
3 Because these predators ― leopard seals, killer whales, sea lions, and sharks ― are skilled hunters, it is difficult for newborn chicks to avoid them. What is more, now the penguin chicks that do survive face another danger ― the disappearing ice.
4 Strange as it may seem, ice is the source of all life in Antarctica. Algae live both on top of the ice and underneath it. The plant provides a feeding ground for the tiny, shrimp-like krill that gather beneath. Krill is the main food for hundreds of different animals, including fish, birds, whales ― and penguins. But alarmingly, recent studies show that the amount of krill in the Antarctic may have dropped by 80 percent since the 1970s. The increase in temperature in Antarctica due to climate change has led to a large reduction in sea ice. Because of this, the krill has moved to other, colder places, away from the penguins. And since krill is the main diet for penguins, this has meant fewer penguin births.
5 Unfortunately, not many people notice or care about the threat to the penguins. When cheetahs or lions get hunted, or elephants decline, people get very upset, but because you can see penguins in large numbers in some places in the world, people are ignoring their decline. And it is not just the penguins we have to worry about; it is the health of the planet itself. In Antarctica, the last wilderness on earth, the gradual disappearance of the penguins is a serious warning to us to pay attention to the effects of global warming before it is too late.
2 It has always been a challenge for penguins to survive, but climate change has made it still more difficult. At the end of summer, most penguins in Antarctica begin pushing their newborn chicks towards the waters of the Southern Ocean, where they will take their first swim. But only about half of the penguin chicks actually reach the sea. Some are eaten by foxes, snakes and birds of prey. And many of those that succeed in reaching the sea do not survive. About half of the chicks that reach the water are eaten by hungry predators after they dive in.
3 Because these predators ― leopard seals, killer whales, sea lions, and sharks ― are skilled hunters, it is difficult for newborn chicks to avoid them. What is more, now the penguin chicks that do survive face another danger ― the disappearing ice.
4 Strange as it may seem, ice is the source of all life in Antarctica. Algae live both on top of the ice and underneath it. The plant provides a feeding ground for the tiny, shrimp-like krill that gather beneath. Krill is the main food for hundreds of different animals, including fish, birds, whales ― and penguins. But alarmingly, recent studies show that the amount of krill in the Antarctic may have dropped by 80 percent since the 1970s. The increase in temperature in Antarctica due to climate change has led to a large reduction in sea ice. Because of this, the krill has moved to other, colder places, away from the penguins. And since krill is the main diet for penguins, this has meant fewer penguin births.
5 Unfortunately, not many people notice or care about the threat to the penguins. When cheetahs or lions get hunted, or elephants decline, people get very upset, but because you can see penguins in large numbers in some places in the world, people are ignoring their decline. And it is not just the penguins we have to worry about; it is the health of the planet itself. In Antarctica, the last wilderness on earth, the gradual disappearance of the penguins is a serious warning to us to pay attention to the effects of global warming before it is too late.
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