Warming temperatures could change penguin breeding in Antarctica : Short Wave

A new study shows penguins are breeding earlier than ever in the Antarctic Peninsula. This region is one of the fastest-warming areas of the world due to climate change.

Penguins time their breeding period to environmental conditions like the temperature outside, whether there’s ice on the ground and what food is available. Changes in those conditions could contribute to mating changes.

While that may benefit some penguin species, others could struggle. But study author and ecologist Tom Hart at Oxford Brookes University says that conducting long-term research in Antarctica has always been difficult.

“What could you do if you were present all year round?,” he says. “You know, if you could be omnipotent for a moment and you could actually watch in such a hostile, remote environment, what would you want to see?”

To solve this problem, Hart and his team set up 77 cameras in 37 penguin colonies across the Antarctic Peninsula. Each camera took photos every hour for a decade.

The results, published in the Journal of Animal Ecology, suggest warming temperatures could be driving the changes the team saw in penguin breeding.

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This episode was produced by Rachel Carlson and Jason Fuller. It was edited by Christopher Intagliata and Rebecca Ramirez. Tyler Jones checked the facts. The audio engineers were Kwesi Lee and Hannah Gluvna.