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The 750-year-old body of a mummified penguin from Antarctica. Credit: Yuesong Gao / Institute of the Polar Environment
According to a new study, hundreds of mummified penguins in Antarctica have been discovered, a sign that penguins have died as a result of two extreme episodes of global warming over the last 1000 years.
The study, published in the Journal of Geophysical Research, states that an extraordinarily snowy and extremely rainy event caused greater than normal rainfall, eventually causing the fall of penguins.
"On the basis of chronological and sedimentary evidence, we propose that both events were caused by heavy regional rainfall that led to the abandonment of many penguin sub-colonies," says the summary of the penguins. study. "Abnormal rainfall was probably associated with the intensification of southern regional air transport under a pattern of Zone 3 wave".
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The summary adds that since these types of "weather conditions correspond to current observations and should persist if climate change continues, the mortality events revealed in this study could become a growing threat to penguins."
According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, Adélie penguins are native to Antarctica and have about 4.7 million, which classify them under the "least worrying" category of extinction risk.
Expressing with LiveScience, the study's lead author, Liguang Sun, said it was "likely that global warming has increased rainfall," adding that the mass of penguins are rare, "especially mummified chicks".
Penguins were found in Long Penninsula, in East Antarctica, in 2016.
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The study notes that penguins died at two different times, over several decades, about 750 and 200 years ago. Radiocarbon dating has been used to indicate the "two multi-decadal massive mortality events," says the summary.
LiveScience added that the researchers examined the sediments around the mummies, as well as the nesting materials and feces. They also examined evidence of floods caused by increased precipitation, which resulted in the transport of mummified penguin bodies out of their original location.
Sun added that we could see more events like these unfold in the future, as climate change is expected to worsen.
"In general, it is thought that the current trend of global warming will continue or even worsen," Sun said. He added that this would cause more rainfall in Antarctica, which would "increase the chances of such a massive death" in penguins.
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According to NASA, global temperatures have risen by 1.8 degrees since 1880, sea levels have risen by 3.2 millimeters a year, and Arctic ice has decreased by 13.2 percent per decade.
Follow Chris Ciaccia on Twitter @Chris_Ciaccia
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