The warming climate may render Emperor Penguins, one of the most striking and charismatic animals on Earth, extinct by the end of the century, according to a new study by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).
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The study was a part of an international collaboration between scientists.
Penguins are this indicator species, this canary in the coal mine, they are warning us of the future effect of climate.
The big message is we need to listen to the penguins and implement policies to meet the Paris agreement’s objective.
Disappearing sea ice impacts Emperor Penguins directly, as the animals use it as a home base for their nine-month breeding season and for feeding and molting.
Emperor Penguins tend to build their colonies on ice with extremely specific conditions — it must be locked into the shoreline of the Antarctic continent, but close enough to open seawater to give the birds access to food for themselves and their young.
As the climate warms, however, that sea ice will gradually disappear, robbing the birds of their habitat, food sources, and ability to raise their chicks.
Emperor Penguins
The status of the emperor penguin, one of Antarctica’s most iconic species, in the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as Near Threatened.
The emperor penguin is the tallest and heaviest of all living penguin species and is endemic to Antarctica. Emperor Penguins are the largest penguins in the world.
Feathers of the head and back are black and sharply delineated from the white belly, pale-yellow breast, and bright-yellow ear patches.
While hunting, the species can remain submerged for around 20 minutes. They can dive deeper than any other bird.
This is the only penguin species that breeds during the Antarctic winter.
Emperor Penguins don’t build any sort of nests at all. Their feet and brood patches are the only “nest” their chicks get.
Cloud seeding is a kind of weather modification technology to create artificial rainfall. It was pioneered by atmospheric scientist Bernard Vonnegut.
It works only when there are enough pre-existing clouds in the atmosphere.
Rain happens when moisture in the air reaches levels at which it can no longer be held, and cloud seeding aims to facilitate and accelerate that process by making available chemical ‘nuclei’ around which condensation can take place.
These ‘seeds’ of rain can be the iodides of silver or potassium, dry ice (solid carbon dioxide), or liquid propane. The seeds can be delivered by plane or simply by spraying from the ground.
It is also known by other terms such as man-made precipitation enhancement, artificial weather modification, and rainmaking.
Tried earlier
Cloud seeding is not new to India and it has earlier been attempted in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Maharashtra to address drought.
Similar experiments of cloud seeding had earlier been tried in Australia, America, Spain and France.
In the United Arab Emirates, the cloud seeding technique led to creation of 52 storms in Abu Dhabi.
Also, such seeding is routine in Russia and other cold countries where the technique is used to disperse fog at the airports.
Cloud Seeding Methods
There are three cloud seeding methods: static, dynamic, and hygroscopic
Static cloud seeding involves spreading a chemical like silver iodide into clouds. The silver iodide provides a crystal around which moisture can condense. The moisture is already present in the clouds, but silver iodide essentially makes rain clouds more effective at dispensing their water.
Dynamic cloud seeding aims to boost vertical air currents, which encourages more water to pass through the clouds, translating into more rain. Up to 100 times more ice crystals are used in dynamic cloud seeding than in the static method. The process is considered more complex than static clouding seeding because it depends on a sequence of events working properly.
Hygroscopic cloud seeding disperses salts through flares or explosives in the lower portions of clouds. The salts grow in size as water joins with them.
Context:
The warming climate may render Emperor Penguins, one of the most striking and charismatic animals on Earth, extinct by the end of the century, according to a new study by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).
About
Emperor Penguins
About
Tried earlier
Cloud Seeding Methods