150,000 penguins perished as an iceberg landlocked their colony

It is no news that the plight of global warming is travesty of highest order for our generation. The effect of global warming especially in the polar caps is indeed making the earth go an inch close to its extinction. And speaking of extinction, Adelie penguins of Cape Dencion in Antarctica recently lost 150,000 of their species.

According to the journal Antarctic Science, about 150,000 penguins died since they were cut off from their food as they were blocked by the B09B iceberg, which is 1,120 square miles (almost the size of Luxemburg). The penguins lived near a large water source which was their main source of food.

In search of food these penguins had to do an additional trek of 70 miles which resulted in such a loss. From 160,000, the population recorded in the early parts of 20^th century, has tumbled down to 10,000. The entire eastern Antarctica hosts 30% of Adelie penguins. Even though this, large scale killing of penguins doesn’t mean that the species will extinct as another colony thrives in the Commonwealth Bay in Antarctica.

A long term environmental change is expected at the Southern Ocean. This environmental change will affect the marine life and will trigger climate change in the area. This change will affect the breeding habits of the land creatures, thus changing the entire ecological system of the area.

(The article was original published in CNN)

(Image Credit: presstv.com)