| Can you remember the last time you were caught in a sudden winter storm without an umbrella or waterproof jacket? You hurry indoors to change, sit by a heater or a fireplace, and wrap your icy fingers around a hot mug of cocoa.
For Magellanic penguin chicks in Punta Tombo, Argentina, it’s not so easy. While adult penguins sport waterproof feathers, as chicks these small birds are covered in soft, fluffy—and absorbent—down feathers. A sudden storm can quickly drench their feathers, putting them at risk of freezing—or even drowning.
Fortunately for these penguins, their desert home has a historically mild climate with low precipitation. But that’s all changing along with our global climate.
Will you make a monthly gift to protect wildlife from the threat of climate change year-round?
A recently-published study revealed several disturbing threats to the penguins of Punta Tomba: - The number of storms during the first two weeks of December, when the chicks are all less than a month old and most susceptible to death from storms and heavy rains, increased between 1983 and 2010.
- High rainfall and lower-than-usual temperature killed more chicks than a lighter, warmer rain—and in two of the years studied, heavy rains killed 50 and 43 percent of the chicks, the most common cause of chick death in those years.
- Heavy rain events are likely to become more even more frequent in the future.
- In some years, extreme heat killed penguins too, though it wasn’t as big of a threat as precipitation.
I hope you enjoyed last month’s penguin slideshow in honor of Penguin Awareness Day. We hoped the photos would raise awareness about the plight of these beautiful and vulnerable animals—but perhaps it is the penguins who are raising awareness for us.
"Penguins are really the ocean’s sentinels," the study’s lead author told reporters. "They are telling us that we’d better start paying attention to climate change because penguins are dying from heat and these increased storms."
Will you respond to their alarm? Your monthly gift is the most effective way to make a difference for penguins and other wildlife threatened by climate change.
 Thank you for all you do,
Emily Stevenson
Manager, Online Membership  |
