Warming Antarctic Peninsula Has Consequences for Marine Ecosystems
21.06.2010 - Water & Oceans, Flora & Fauna, Antarctic
The western edge of the Antarctic Peninsula has seen a 6°C rise in winter temperatures over the past 50 years, and the effects on marine ecosystems have been quite profound. A new study recently published in Science as part of the research being conducted at the US's Palmer Station under the Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) network focuses on the Antarctic Peninsula as as a case for examining marine ecosystems undergoing rapid climate change.
Because of the stress put on their habitat, Adélie penguin populations, which need ice and cold weather to survive, have plummeted by 90% in the northern part of the peninsula over the past three decades. Chinstrap penguins, on the other hand, have increased. The problem for Adélie penguins is that they do not relocate easily and tend to come back to the same nesting place every year. Their main hope, the study says, would be in some individuals venturing beyond their usual rookery and finding a new area to settle.
Scientists at Palmer Station are also investigating changes in fishes, seals, whales and other creatures. They argue that there is a need for a much more aggressive campaign to monitor the Antarctic Ocean, as some events appear far more frequently than a once-a-year ship excursion can capture. Fortunately, they say, a new generation of automated buoys and undersea probes and the data they collect can make up for the missing data.
