By Jo Nova
Who knew? Penguins are not only a “sentinel species” warning us about climate change in Antarctica but “Adélie penguin breeding is closely linked to temperature“. More warming equals more penguins.
So just as we can use trees as thermometers, we can use penguins as thermometers. And when we do, we find that there was a veritable boom in penguins in the Ross Sea 1,000 years ago.
It’s all there in the peer reviewed Zheng paper, 2023 — thanks to NoTricksZone and KlimaNachrichten for finding the paper.
As one of the most important ‘sentinel species’ in the Antarctic ecosystem, the Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) is widely distributed in the Ross Sea region and its population is extremely sensitive to climate change (Ainley, 2002; Ainley et al., 2010). Since the International Geophysical Year in 1957, researchers have conducted extensive field investigations on climate change (including temperature, SST, sea ice, and polynyas) and Adélie penguin populations in Antarctica.
Modern monitoring data also show that Adélie penguin breeding is closely linked to temperature…
After comparing with historical records of penguin populations at Cape Bird, Dunlop Island, and Cape Adare, all were found to have a common increase during the 750-1350 AD period in the Ross Sea.
So at the same time the Vikings were getting into the spirit of Greenland, the penguins were having some parties of their own on the far side of the Earth. And even though climate experts have told us a million times that the Medieval Warm Period was just a localized phenomenon in Europe, it was also warm in Antarctica, and most other places, and no one seems to be able to find the part of the planet that was colder which would bring that average back to normal.
As it happens, another study last year showed Elephant seals and penguins lived on the Ross Sea for thousands of years until the horrible cold of the Little Ice Age wiped out them out. Seriously, researchers refer to the era three or four thousand years ago as “The Penguin Optimum”. So this is yet another study using different markers but reinforcing the same finding. (That one used diatoms, this one looked at a footprint of elements in penguin guano — P, Cu, Zn, Sr, Cd, Ca, and As.)
The climate experts also told us a million times that global warming would wipe out the penguins, but instead it turns out, global cooling does.
In the full figure we can see a whole stack of climate variables that all rise and fall in cycles that bear no resemblance to changes of CO2:
See these posts for references:
- Medieval Warm Period found in 120 proxies. Plus Roman era was similar to early 20th Century.
- Climate helped drive Vikings from Greenland
- The Medieval Warm Period hit west Antarctica
- Antarctica was warmer one thousand years ago — and life was OK
REFERENCE
Just about all lifeforms, including humans, love and seek warmth, at least to the tolerance of their cold adaptation which would cause them to overheat if they were to live in a place with an excessive temperature.
71
The penguins might like it, but what about the polar bears?
40
They are possibly an example of an animal that is so well cold adapted that it can overheat in warmer than expected temperatures.
However, they can survive. The key to keeping them in zoos in warmer climstes, is to reduce their fat layer by feeding them a low fat diet like fish, apart from giving them a freezer to sleep in.
Also, it gets much colder in Antarctica than the Arctic where the bears are adapted to.
I think the bears will adapt to natural temperature changes through migration. For example, during the Medieval Warm Period they moved north out of northern Europe and Canada.
50
Polar bears are mammals. The mammalian metabolism is an active system that adjusts to the exterior conditions to keep body temperature within a narrow range. The bears will happily adapt to environmental change. And if they nevertheless overheat there is always the option of a cool swim.
50
Climate catastrophe, climate armageddon, biological system collapse – the descriptors for the never proven theory of anthropogenic global warming never end. I think we need to break it down and use terms like climate “panic” or my favourite, climate “scam”. Even the damn penguins know it’s all hyperbole.
131
Excellent catch, the natural variables illustrate exactly what is happening.
For starters, la Nina dominated during the LIA and El Nino is prevalent in warm times. This suggests that climate change has nothing to do with humans.
30