Penguins and pollution

The pressure exerted on the climate by global warming is not just affecting humans . Unfortunately, there is continuous evidence of how much every type of ecosystem and biome, even in Antardide, suffers the effects of this pressure.

According to the results of two prestigious universities,  that of Siena and that of Playmouth, in England , the Antarctic penguins are also at the expense.

After a year of targeted studies on 19 samples, it was verified to what extent  environmental pollution, habitat alteration and human presence have a strong impact on genomic instability and alterations of the immune system , both conditions in able to favor the onset ofpotential cancerous mutagenic forms .

This preliminary study aims to collect as much information as possible on the real causes of these alterations in order to be able to act preventively and avoid amplifying the risk of extinction of penguins through cancer as is happening for example for the Tasmanian devil, severely threatened by a form of facial tumor. 

Which penguins are threatened?

BirdLife International is  a network of organizations for the protection of birds and their habitats. According to BirdLife, ten out of eighteen penguin species on our planet are in danger of extinction .

It may seem paradoxical that a creature as strong as the penguin, which over the millennia has managed to adapt to such extreme conditions for almost all other life forms, is now at risk of extinction.

The penguins at risk are:

> The New Zealand penguin of the antipodes (in danger of extinction);
> the Snares penguin (vulnerable);
> the king penguin (endangered);
> the big-beaked penguin (vulnerable);
> the golden-faced penguin (vulnerable);
> the rockhopper penguin (vulnerable);
> the Moseley Crested Penguin (in danger of extinction);
> the black-footed penguin (in danger of extinction);
> the emperor penguin (almost threatened);
> the Magellanic penguin (almost threatened);
> the Humboldt penguin (vulnerable);
> the Galapagos penguin (threatened with extinction).

What threatens the penguins?

What are the primary causes of this increased risk of extinction for so many penguin species in the world?

Let’s try to make a list.

First of all  the global warming that alters the mechanisms of currents and tides , and this means that many sedentary species of penguin no longer receive the nourishment that arrives with the currents, on which they are strictly dependent.

Other causes are intensive fishing with nets , which often also catch penguins, and the introduction of predatory or competing species with penguins .

Marine pollution, especially caused by  oil, is, one of the major causes of the increased risk of extinction.

We add the tourism that disturbs the colonies during the nesting period . Thinning of Antarctic surfaces  also compromises nesting.