Much ink has been spilled over the rising oceans, the warming globe, and the imminent demise of Arctic and Antarctic creatures. The ice is melting, the penguins are sweating, and the sky is falling, all at once. At least, that is how the story usually goes.
Which is why The Scrapbook was surprised to learn this week of the 150,000 Adelie penguins that have died over the last five years due not to the lack of ice, but to too much of it. The Guardian reports a colony of some 160,000 penguins has shrunk to around 10,000 after an “iceberg the size of Rome became grounded near their colony.”
It’s quite the chunk of ice. Scientists named it B09B and say it measures over 1,000 square miles. After the iceberg drifted into Commonwealth Bay, the penguins were unable to reach the ocean to feed. They have to make their way an additional 40 miles to find food. Researchers tell the Guardian that unless the chunk of ice can be dislodged, the colony will be gone within 20 years.
It remains unclear how this event can be made to fit the standard global warming narrative, but The Scrapbook has confidence in Al Gore and Co. to come through. In the meantime, we hope global warming can give the penguins a hand.
