<ul><li><keyword id="21340" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Satellite-images">Satellite images</keyword> from outer space have spotted 11 new <keyword id="6354605" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Penguin">penguin</keyword> colonies on the isolated continent of <keyword id="6354781" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Antarctica">Antarctica</keyword>. </li><li>With these new penguin colonies, there are an estimated 20% more emperor penguins now.</li><li>However, these colonies are located on margins of <keyword id="439506" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Emperor-penguin">emperor penguin</keyword> habitats and are likely to be wiped out by <keyword id="6361617" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="climate-change">climate change</keyword> as the planet gets warmer. </li></ul>Satellite images have spotted 11 new colonies of penguins in Antarctica with an estimated 20% more emperor penguins than previously thought. This brings the global census of penguin colonies to a grand total of 61. <br /><br />    <div type="Video" msid="77363634" hostid="261" title="Emperor penguins in Antarctica" dataSource="BUSINESSINSIDER" thumbUrl="https://denmark.timesinternet.in/cmslite/api/app/images.jpg?msid=77363634"></div><br />“Whilst this is good news, the colonies are small and so only take the overall population count up by 5-10% to just over half a million penguins,” said Peter Fretwell, the lead author of the study published in Remote Sensing Ecology and Conservation. <br /><br />  <div type="image" title="Close-up satellite image of Dawson Lambton colony showing indivudual penguins in the snow around a foraging crack" msid="77363682" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Close-up satellite image of Dawson Lambton colony &amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div><br /><strong>Emperor penguins — the benchmark of climate change<br /></strong>Emperor penguins serve an important gauge of the impact of climate change on the planet. Their favourite breeding habitat is sea ice and that’s one of the first things to melt as Earth gets warmer. <br /><br />  <div type="image" title="Emperor penguin chick1. Credit Peter Fretwell@BAS (1)" msid="77363687" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Emperor penguin and its chick&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div><br />Most of the new colonies that have been spotted using the European Commission’s Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite are located at the margins of the emperor penguins’ breeding range. This heightens the risk of losing them to climate change and rising temperatures. <br /><br />  <div type="image" title="Close-up satellite image of Dawson Lambton colony showing individual penguins on background of guano (1)" msid="77363699" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Close-up satellite image of Dawson Lambton colony showing individual penguins &amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div><br />"Whilst it's good news that we've found these new colonies, the breeding sites are all in locations where recent model projections suggest emperors will decline,” said Phil Trathan, Head of Conservation Biology at British Antarctic Survey (BAS) said in a statement.<br /><br /><br />  <div type="image" title="10009802 Adult emperor penguins with chick near Halley Research Station" msid="77363693" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Adult emperor penguins with chick near Halley Research Station&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div><br /><br />A couple of colonies were also located offshore on sea ice that has developed around icebergs grounded in shallow waters. Not normally known to venture this far out, the discovery of penguins living almost 180 kilometres offshore was not expected. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br />

Satellite images spot 11 new penguin colonies in Antarctica but global warming could soon wipe them out

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Around 10,000 penguin chicks died after an ice bed they lived on broke apart, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-66492767">the BBC said.</a></li><li>The emperor penguin chicks, who had not yet developed waterproof feathers, died last October. </li></ul><p>Around 10,000 penguin chicks who had not yet developed waterproof feathers died after an ice bed beneath them melted and broke apart, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-66492767">the BBC reported</a> on Thursday.</p><p>The emperor penguin chicks most likely drowned or froze to death after the incident, which occurred in late 2022 in an area off the Antarctic Peninsula, called the Bellingshausen Sea, the outlet said, citing a study published on Wednesday in <a href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=99d8236e11c212f24947bcfd6d1470537227f6e4edc52145d38b914c6d8d01d2&amp;postID=64e864a823f4ecc1488f2f53&amp;postSlug=10000-baby-penguins-died-after-ice-bed-melted-broke-antarctic-2023-8&amp;site=bi&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fs43247-023-00927-x">the peer-reviewed journal "Communications Earth &amp; Environment."</a></p><p>The study shows that the chicks were among four of five colonies that suffered a "catastrophic breeding failure" in the area late last year.</p><p>Emperor penguins depend on the sea ice for breeding, foraging, and raising their young, the research said. But their habitat is shrinking due to "large-scale contractions in sea ice extent," the study added.</p><p>"Emperors depend on sea ice for their breeding cycle; it's the stable platform they use to bring up their young. But if that ice is not as extensive as it should be or breaks up faster, these birds are in trouble," Dr. Peter Fretwell, from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), who helped conduct the research, told the BBC.</p><p>"There is hope: we can cut our carbon emissions that are causing the warming. But if we don't we will drive these iconic, beautiful birds to the verge of extinction," he added. </p><div type="image" title="smyley island empo" height="1384" width="1846" msid="103061632" hostid="261"></div><p>Satellite images examined by the researchers show the colony of penguins disappearing over just a matter of weeks.</p><p>An image taken on October 28 last year still shows the colony living on the ice bed. But only two months later, in December 2022, the colony appears to have vanished as bits of ice float in the sea.</p><p>The research follows projections by scientists that more than 90% of emperor penguins will be all but extinct by the end of this century amid an ever-warming world. </p><p>Over the past seven years, sea ice around Antarctica has decreased significantly, the research said. By the end of December 2022, sea ice extent was the lowest experienced in the 45-year satellite record.</p>

Around 10,000 penguin chicks died when the Antarctic ice they lived on melted &mdash; they were still too young to survive in the icy water

<ul class="summary-list"><li>In 2000, the largest iceberg ever recorded — Iceberg B-15 — broke away from the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica. </li><li>Underwater explorer and photographer Jill Heinerth dove inside B-15 and snapped photos of this hidden world.</li></ul><p>In 2000, when <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/antarctica-larsen-c-iceberg-history-2017-7">an iceberg the size of Jamaica</a> cleaved away from the Ross Ice Sheet in Antarctica, Jill Heinerth saw an opportunity to make history.</p><p>Heinerth is a professional underwater explorer, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/thai-cave-diver-who-helped-rescue-soccer-team-trapped-in-cave-himself-2019-4">cave diver</a>, and photographer. She's been diving in the most remote parts of Earth's oceans for 35 years. Her trip inside B-15 marked the first time anyone ever dove beneath an iceberg.</p><p>It's not uncommon for Heinerth to be among the first humans to venture inside these hidden places. But with B-15, she was also among the last.</p><div type="image" title="Jill Heinerth leans over a table and smiles at the camera" height="547" width="729" msid="109958799" hostid="261" sizebytes="35322"></div><p>When B-15 broke free, it was among the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/worlds-biggest-iceberg-a23a-on-the-move-could-threaten-wildlife-2023-11">largest moving objects on the planet</a>. Today, it's lost 99% of its size and only one piece remains — a chunk measuring roughly 40 square miles, smaller than Disney World.</p><p>Luckily, Heinerth and her dive team seized the opportunity to explore and photograph the inside of B-15 while it was still a behemoth 23 years ago. And they risked their lives to do it.</p><p>But for Heinerth, the work is worth the risk. <em>"</em>For me, diving in these icy environments is almost like documenting an endangered species," she said.</p><p>Through her <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/un-world-oceans-day-award-winning-photos-2021-7">underwater photography</a>, she brings the story of these disappearing ice caves to the surface, aiding scientific discovery and raising awareness about the rapid progression of climate change.</p><h2 id="b64d6dc4-6b8a-44cf-905a-eeb2a3505d54">Swimming in uncharted waters</h2><p>To reach B15, Heinerth and her dive team sailed for 12 days across the tumultuous <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/listen-to-the-bloop-sound-that-puzzled-scientists-for-years-2022-12">Southern Ocean</a>, weathering 60-foot swells and knocking ice off the boat with baseball bats. When they finally reached their destination, even more dangers lay ahead.</p><p>"During the trip, we had many close calls," Heinerth said. She tells the full story of her three death-defying dives in a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.wbur.org/onlyagame/2019/09/20/jill-heinerth-cave-diving-antarctica">2019 WBUR article</a>.</p><div type="image" title="A scuba diver floating in an ice cave" height="2432" width="3686" msid="109958801" hostid="261" sizebytes="104080"></div><p>On the initial dive, the team faced its first brush with danger. After descending through a long vertical crevasse in B15 all the way to the sea floor, 130 feet down, Heinerth spotted the entrance to a cave leading into the iceberg.</p><p>Once inside, Heinerth described it as "this dynamic environment that's beautiful. You see how the sea has sculpted the ice, like there's these great scallops that are carved by the hand of the sea," she told BI.</p><p>But suddenly, they heard a deep groaning sound.</p><div type="image" title="A diver swims through a narrow crevasse in iceberg B15" height="2566" width="3731" msid="109958803" hostid="261" sizebytes="588370"></div><p>Massive chunks of ice had fallen into the cave entrance, blocking their way out. Luckily, they found a way through and escaped with their lives, ready to return the next day.</p><p>During their second dive inside B15, they got caught in a powerful current sucking them deeper inside the iceberg. They couldn't fight it and instead rode the current through until eventually it took them to another exit on a completely different side of the iceberg.</p><div type="image" title="A diver swims with a camera through a crevasse in iceberg B15" height="2598" width="3851" msid="109958805" hostid="261" sizebytes="142360"></div><p>But even that wouldn't prevent them from taking a third and final visit, when they faced the most dangerous dive of all. On that day, the powerful current hit again. This time, there was no backdoor to escape through, and the flow was so intense that even when they fought their way back to the cave entrance, they couldn't rise back up through the crevasse.</p><p>"On our very last dive in this environment, we were pinned down from the currents inside the ice and having difficulty getting out," she told BI. "Our one-hour dive turned into a three-hour flight for our lives."</p><div type="image" title="A diver floats inside iceberg B15" height="3672" width="2445" msid="109958807" hostid="261" sizebytes="120196"></div><p>What saved their lives was when Heinerth remembered the burrows that fish make in the crevasse walls. Using these holes as <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-robotics-engineer-how-test-robots-space-planets-2022-10">climbing holds</a>, she and the team slowly climbed their way against the current and eventually made it to the surface.</p><p>Then, just hours after they resurfaced, "The entire piece of ice that we'd just been inside of literally exploded and turned into a sea of slush ice as far as the eye could see," Heinerth said.</p><p>"I was just standing there, gobsmacked on the ship's rail. I realized that if we had been in the water, we'd be dead," she wrote for WBUR.</p><h2 id="59f4004e-98db-4776-83ca-c7c72b65b767">Documenting a disappearing world</h2><p>Between moments spent fighting for her life, Heinerth managed to snap photos of B15's inner world. As a citizen scientist, she hopes that documenting these rapidly changing environments helps researchers better understand them.</p><div type="image" title="A diver floats beneath chunks of ice" height="3827" width="2566" msid="109958808" hostid="261" sizebytes="237718"></div><p>"We are now living in a time of very clear existential threats — a time when we need an army of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hearts-in-the-ice-arctic-citizen-scientists-climate-change-2020-5">citizen scientists</a> that can provide reflections, anecdotal evidence, but also data gathering streams," she said.</p><p>Over the last two decades, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sea-ice-levels-in-antarctica-reached-a-new-historic-low-2023-9">Antarctica</a> has lost an average of 150 billion metric tons of ice per year, <a target="_blank" href="https://science.nasa.gov/resource/video-antarctic-ice-mass-loss-2002-2023/">NASA reports</a>. This rapid melting means <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nature-photos-wildlife-photographer-of-the-year-contest-winners-2024-2">iconic arctic species</a> like humpback whales and emperor penguins are losing critical resources and habitat.</p><div type="image" title="A person walks across a snowy landscape surrounded by penguins" height="547" width="729" msid="109958809" hostid="261" sizebytes="49662"></div><p>It also means <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/antarctica-thwaites-doomsday-glacier-melting-collapse-flooding-curtains-2024-3">sea levels are rising</a>. "When [B15] broke off — when you have ice that moves from land to sea — that's going to change sea levels globally," Heinerth said. "And that's the thing we need to be concerned about."</p><p>Exploring the below-surface geomorphology (the shape and structure) of icebergs like B15 can help climatologists understand how quickly they're disappearing, she said. As they melt, water moves downward through cracks in the iceberg, carving out new caves and crevasses for intrepid folks like Heinerth to investigate.</p><div type="image" title="Jill Heinerth stands in a snowy arctic landscape" height="3815" width="2564" msid="109958810" hostid="261" sizebytes="210894"></div><p>Through her dive photography, she hopes to spread awareness about how quickly these hidden ice environments are changing.</p><p>"We're at the point where we need to make some <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/climate-crisis-mine-moon-dust-shield-sun-astrophycists-solution-2023-2">climate interventions</a>, and that is going to require political will. And it's going to require a global citizenry to be relatively educated about what we face in the very near future," Heinerth said.</p><p><em>Photos courtesy of Jill Heinerth. Learn more about her work at: </em><a target="_blank" href="http://www.IntoThePlanet.com"><em>www.IntoThePlanet.com</em></a></p>

Photos show what cave divers discovered when they swam inside an iceberg the size of Jamaica. Today, it's gone.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Human-driven climate change is causing Antarctica to transform before our eyes.</li><li>Coastlines are crumbling from rapid permafrost melt, and snow's turning black from carbon pollution.</li></ul><p>Last year, ice beds holding thousands of Emperor penguins melted and broke apart from beneath their feet. Scientists estimated up to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/10000-baby-penguins-died-after-ice-bed-melted-broke-antarctic-2023-8">10,000 penguin chicks</a>, too young to withstand the freezing waters, died as a result.</p><p>It's just one of many disturbing changes that humans and human-driven climate change are causing to happen on the frozen continent.</p><h2>1. Wildlife is disappearing</h2><p>Antarctica is home to more than 1,100 species of plants, animals, and microbes, but probably not for long. Researchers estimate that <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3001921" target="_blank" rel="noopener">65%</a> of all its wildlife could cease to exist by the year 2100.</p><p>"Antarctica has been losing ice at an accelerating rate over the past few decades," Emma MacKie, assistant professor in geological sciences at the University of Florida, told Insider.</p><div type="image" title="Antarctica Ice" height="3456" width="5184" msid="104065486" hostid="261"></div><p>Recent research found that the <a href="https://www.insider.com/antarctica-most-intense-heat-wave-recorded-2023-9">most intense heat wave</a> ever recorded on Earth was in Antarctica last year. And this past winter, the frozen continent reached record-low sea ice levels.</p><p>"Entire marine ecosystems are affected by such changes in sea ice cover," Eric Rignot, a distinguished professor of Earth system science at the University of California, Irvine, told Insider.</p><p>What's more, "we have reason to believe that this ice loss trend will continue to worsen," MacKie said.</p><p>Data suggests that even if scientists try their best conservation strategies, they still won't be able to save <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3001921" target="_blank" rel="noopener">37%</a> of life forms on the continent.</p><h2>2. The ground is breaking apart</h2><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ancient-viruses-may-reemerge-as-permafrost-melts-climate-change-study-2023-8">Permafrost</a> is soil or ground that's been frozen for at least two or more years. It's typically found in polar and hilly regions and is part of what holds Antarctica together.</p><p>Human-driven climate change is causing Antarctica's permafrost to thaw rapidly, according to NASA.</p><p>When permafrost thaws it can destabilize the ground and, in the case of shorelines, cause giant chunks of the continent to fall off.</p><div type="image" title="Permafrost thaw shows giant chunks of Earth falling into the ocean." height="900" width="1200" msid="104065488" hostid="261"></div><p>"This region is nearing a threshold of rapid landscape change," <a href="http://glaciers.pdx.edu/fountain/MyPapers/SudmanEtAl2017_PermafrostDecayDryValleysAntarctica.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">researchers noted</a> in 2017. These changes are making the sea bed thinner and more mobile, they said.</p><h2>3. Antarctica's pristine white snow is turning black</h2><p>Antarctica's once-white <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/snow-turns-back-siberia-russia-pollution-2019-2">snow is turning black</a> in regions where humans stay. The reason is black carbon.</p><p>Black carbon is the dark, dirty, dusty pollution that forms from burning fossil fuels. Not only is it filthy, it also absorbs more heat, causing the snow and ice around it to melt faster.</p><div type="image" title="A cliff face with melting ice in Antarctica." height="2313" width="3500" msid="104065789" hostid="261"></div><p>And depending on the location, that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-earth-would-look-like-if-ice-melted-2017-7">ice melt</a> could turn up some pretty nasty stuff.</p><p>During the 1950s, there was a lack of proper <a href="https://www.insider.com/tiktok-video-shows-daily-life-in-antarctica-taking-out-trash-2021-5">waste management</a> protocol. So researchers often buried waste in the ground, as a permanent frozen dumpster — except it's no longer frozen.</p><p>"Everything from fuel to batteries to dead huskies — that's already starting to melt and there's this concern about what to do to clean those up," Sharon Robinson, a climate change biologist at the University of Wollongong in Australia, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2020-07-16/antarctica-wilderness-disappearing-humans/12452530" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> ABC News in 2020.</p><h2>4. Human encroachment threatens biodiversity</h2><p><a href="https://www.insider.com/daily-life-in-antarctic-research-stations-2018-11">Human activities</a> and structures can be found over 22,500 square miles across Antarctica, according to a 2019 study.</p><p>What's even more worrisome is that "human impacts are disproportionately concentrated on the most environmentally significant areas of Antarctica," the researchers <a href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=b9ba26d2e35b645800713ac6bb6444ce380ffce4b738e3fbef317eb6922645a3&amp;postID=6512067b135a312268e39a24&amp;postSlug=how-humans-are-ruining-antarctica-2023-9&amp;site=bi&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fs41893-019-0237-y.epdf%3Fsharing_token%3DgZBDh0GnYmoZN9I5sT1UFtRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0P-9Cpvk9vDAMR9M9XkBIhJ6S-6FXbvFgApAoLSKgkvy8V1TRUTnI4VpTaliEexFbkwDNbig1nynEeJ_12q9oxSJink2D60OSUfeU7e3g7PT0HHB6I71Ex20mHqYUWq7UI8prF6ZMG4agqDLwUpiQyV9SSL3A8FMRTxOhgRW_HTGl6NxFwIEilEze0eYpmlqo4%253D%26tracking_referrer%3Dwww.discovermagazine.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">noted</a>.</p><div type="image" title="Tourists on Wolf's Fang Runway in Antarctica." height="988" width="1504" msid="104065792" hostid="261"></div><p>A report from the University of Colorado Boulder suggested that the Western Antarctic Peninsula, a major biodiversity hotspot in Antarctica, is <a href="https://www.colorado.edu/asmagazine/2020/10/19/humans-threaten-antarctic-peninsulas-fragile-ecosystem-marine-protected-area-long-overdue#:~:text=The%20Western%20Antarctic%20Peninsula%2C%20the,infrastructure%20expansion%20and%20climate%20change." target="_blank" rel="noopener">under threat</a> because of infrastructure development, tourism, and other human activities.</p><p>The region has great ecological importance as it provides unique habitats for <a href="https://oceanwide-expeditions.com/to-do/experiences/flora-and-fauna-of-antarctic-peninsula#:~:text=The%20mammals%20and%20seabirds%20of%20the%20Antarctic%20Peninsula&amp;text=Petrels%2C%20skuas%2C%20and%20four%20species,leopard%20seals%2C%20and%20Weddell%20seals." target="_blank" rel="noopener">various species</a> of lichens, mosses, plants, microbes, and animals.</p><p>Many experts argue that there is an urgent need to expand Antarctica's network of <a href="https://www.ats.aq/devph/en/apa-database" target="_blank" rel="noopener">specially protected areas</a> as this is the only way to prevent human encroachment.</p><h2>5. Overfishing krill is reducing humpback whale populations</h2><p>Fishing vessels alone hunted over <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/08/climate-change-and-overfishing-threaten-once-endless-antarctic-krill/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">450,000 metric tons</a> of krill in 2020, and experts suggest that this number is expected to increase further because of <a href="https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/krill-oil-market-102465" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rising demand</a> for krill oil-based supplements.</p><div type="image" title="Humpback Whale" height="2848" width="4288" msid="104065794" hostid="261"></div><p>Antarctic krill is a <a href="https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/02quest/background/krill/krill.html#:~:text=Krill%20convert%20energy%20from%20the,major%20food%20source%20for%20salmon." target="_blank" rel="noopener">keystone species</a>, meaning that the survival of many other species depends on them. One study found that a decrease in krill population results in <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.16559" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reduced humpback whale</a> pregnancies.</p><p>"Continued warming and increased fishing along the Western Antarctic Peninsula, which continue to reduce krill stocks, will likely impact this humpback whale population and other krill predators in the region," Logan Pallin, a postdoctoral researcher at University of California, Santa Cruz, said in a <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/01/230123151535.htm#:~:text=Scientists%20show%20reduced%20krill%20supplies,when%20krill%20were%20less%20plentiful." target="_blank" rel="noopener">press release</a> about the study.</p><p>Krill is also the primary food source for seals, penguins, and many species of seabirds in Antarctica.</p><h2>6. Boats bring invasive species that are changing Antarctica's landscape</h2><p>In 2018, researchers from the British Atlantic Survey <a href="https://www.bas.ac.uk/data/our-data/publication/establishment-and-eradication-of-an-alien-plant-species-in-antarctica/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> the invasive flowering grass species Poa annua at multiple locations in the Antarctic Peninsula.</p><p>Two years later, another team of researchers identified <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.14938" target="_blank" rel="noopener">13 invasive species</a> on the continent that could negatively affect the native biodiversity.</p><div type="image" title="Picture of a yellow dandelion that's invasive to Antarctica." height="683" width="1024" msid="104065797" hostid="261"></div><p>"Although Antarctica is quite far away for most people in the world, the continent and the surrounding ocean area have a very significant impact on global processes related to both the atmosphere and the ocean," Deneb Karentz, a marine biologist at the University of San Francisco, told Insider.</p><p>Changes in Antarctica's ecosystem are likely to cause a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/news/map-shows-the-ice-sheets-and-glaciers-melting-that-scientists-most-fear-will-be-the-source-of-catastrophic-rising-sea-levels/articleshow/96665331.cms" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rise in sea levels</a>, alter weather patterns, and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/international/news/watch-what-would-happen-if-all-the-ice-on-earth-melted-overnight/articleshow/71492082.cms" target="_blank" rel="noopener">trigger extreme events</a> such as tsunamis that could adversely affect <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/rising-sea-levels-could-cause-staggering-damage-to-these-cities/articleshow/34084445.cms" target="_blank" rel="noopener">millions of people</a> across the globe.</p><p>"The future of Antarctica is totally relevant to the future of humanity," Rignot said.</p>

6 ways humans are transforming Antarctica from a pristine preserve to a polluted wasteland

<ul class="summary-list"><li>It's been a banner year for <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photo-video-europe-china-flooding-oregon-siberia-canada-wildfires-2021-7">extreme weather</a>, but we made some big strides to tackle climate change.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-inflation-reduction-act-means-finances-tax-health-climate-democrats-2022-8">Sweeping climate legislation</a> passed, climate candidates won, and animals got important protections.</li></ul><p>It's been a year of record-breaking <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/extreme-weather-across-us-triggers-fatal-floods-heat-emergency-2022-7">heat, floods, and other natural disasters</a>. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/climate-fueled-droughts-unearthing-unexpected-discoveries-2022-7">Severe droughts</a> gripped parts of the globe The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/climate-crisis-could-turn-around-this-decade-ipcc-report-2022-4">latest report from the United Nations climate panel</a> provided a grim prognosis for our planet if ambitious climate goals aren't met.</p><p>But through it all, there was encouraging progress on climate that's worth celebrating.</p><p>Insider asked environmental experts for a year-end review of crucial victories. Here are six developments they say should give us hope in the coming new year.</p><h2>The US passed the most sweeping climate bill ever enacted in the nation</h2><h2><div type="image" title="Activists hold signs ahead of the vote on the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 ithe House of Representatives outside the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on August 12, 2022." height="2586" width="4000" msid="96628275" hostid="261" sizebytes="396682"></div></h2><p>In August, President Joe Biden signed the wide-ranging <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/house-passes-inflation-reduction-act-sending-it-to-biden-2022-8">Inflation Reduction Act</a> into law. Nearly $369 billion allocated in the new law will go toward clean energy tax credits.</p><p>"This year feels like a breakthrough. After more than thirty years of effort, the U.S. finally passed comprehensive climate legislation," Leah Stokes, a political science professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, told Insider via email. "All told, there are hundreds of billions of dollars available for climate progress."</p><p>An <a href="https://repeatproject.org/docs/REPEAT_IRA_Prelminary_Report_2022-08-04.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">analysis from Princeton University researchers</a> estimates the bill's climate provisions will reduce the country's greenhouse gas emissions by 42% below 2005 levels by the end of the decade.</p><h2>Climate candidates won in races with stakes for the environment</h2><div type="image" title="Candidate Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva of Workers’ Party (PT) greets supporters as he leaves Escola Estadual Firmino Correia De Araújo after casting his vote and giving a press conference on October 30, 2022 in Sao Bernardo do Campo, Brazil." height="3839" width="5758" msid="96628277" hostid="261" sizebytes="751954"></div><p>This year, there were high-stakes elections that could shape the future of our planet. "Globally, climate candidates won in Australia and Brazil," Stokes said.</p><p>In Brazil, two-time former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva defeated far-right president Jair Bolsonaro. During Bolsonaro's time in office, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/brazil-election-to-determine-fate-amazon-rainforest-global-climate-crisis-2022-10">Brazil cleared large swaths of the Amazon rainforest</a> for farmland, accelerating deforestation there. Overall, deforestation rose more than 50% during his presidency, according to the <a href="http://www.obt.inpe.br/OBT/assuntos/programas/amazonia/prodes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Brazilian Ministry of Science</a>.</p><p>Conversely, during Lula's previous years in office, Amazon deforestation fell by <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/09/brazil-faces-two-contrasting-legacies-for-the-amazon-in-octobers-elections/#:~:text=Deforestation%20declined%20by%2082%25%2C%20from,satellite%20monitoring%20began%20in%201988." rel=" nofollow">more than 80%</a>. The newly elected president promises to fight deforestation in the Amazon rainforest.</p><p>In Australia, the country's new prime minister, Anthony Albanese, promised to herald a new era in climate action with tougher emission reduction goals.</p><p>"Together we can end the climate wars," he said in his victory speech, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/sharp-switch-australia-votes-climate-action-2022-05-22/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reuters reported</a>. "Together we can take advantage of the opportunity for Australia to be a renewable energy superpower."</p><h2>Global climate negotiations focused on the world's oceans</h2><h2><div type="image" title="A steelhead parrotfish swims over a coral head along the Great Barrier Reef on August 10, 2022." height="2671" width="4032" msid="96628280" hostid="261" sizebytes="1886588"></div></h2><p>This year's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/look-inside-the-un-cop27-climate-summit-in-egypt-2022-11">COP27, a UN conference on climate change</a>, was held in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.</p><p>Peter B. de Menocal, president of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, told Insider that the event featured the <a href="https://oceanpavilion-cop.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">first-ever Ocean Pavilion</a>.</p><p>It "was a win for the ocean and an acknowledgement of the critical role it plays in our global climate," de Menocal said.</p><p>The ocean takes up <a href="https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/ocean-heat-content-rises" target="_blank" rel="noopener">90% of excell heat</a> and absorbs about <a href="https://www.noaa.gov/education/resource-collections/ocean-coasts/ocean-acidification">30% of the carbon dioxide</a><a href="https://www.noaa.gov/education/resource-collections/ocean-coasts/ocean-acidification" target="_blank" rel="noopener"></a> we emit into the atmosphere, according to NOAA.</p><p>"The presence of the Ocean Pavilion helped elevate awareness of the potential opportunities for the ocean to play a central role in one day removing more planet-warming carbon from the atmosphere than human activity puts there each year," he added.</p><h2>Emperor penguins got protections under the Endangered Species Act</h2><h2><div type="image" title="Two emperor penguins pictured in their enclosure at Loro Parque zoo in Spain." height="3327" width="5000" msid="96628283" hostid="261" sizebytes="1468370"></div></h2><p>There are as many as 650,000 emperor penguins in Antarctica, according to the <a href="https://www.fws.gov/press-release/2022-10/emperor-penguin-gets-endangered-species-act-protections" target="_blank" rel="noopener">US Fish &amp; Wildlife Service</a>.</p><p>That population could shrink by 26% to 47% by 2050 due to "low and high carbon emissions scenarios, respectively," the agency said.</p><p>In October, the flightless seabird received protection under the <a href="https://www.fws.gov/law/endangered-species-act" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Endangered Species Act</a> — a law enacted in 1973 to protect vulnerable wildlife.</p><p>"It was a much needed win for the species," de Menocal said, adding that the climate crisis could make emperor penguins virtually extinct by 2100. The listing provides tools to designate and protect their dwindling habitat.</p><p>"It also promotes international cooperation on conservation strategies, increases funding for conservation programs, spurs research, and provides concrete tools for threat reductions, all critical steps to save this iconic bird," he added.</p><h2>A year of more efforts to fight against plastic pollution</h2><h2><div type="image" title="plastic pollution" height="1887" width="2696" msid="96628285" hostid="261" sizebytes="963508"></div></h2><p>Humans currently go through an estimated 330 million tons of plastic a year, but only 9% of global plastic waste is recycled, according to <a href="https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/world-leaders-set-sights-plastic-pollution#:~:text=Approximately%20300%20million%20tonnes%20of,landfills%20or%20the%20natural%20environment." target="_blank" rel="noopener">the UN</a>.</p><p>This year, the <a href="https://www.reusablela.org/skip-the-stuff" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Los Angeles city council</a> adopted a law to make single-use food-ware available only by request for takeout and delivery.</p><p>"When you order takeout food, you are not automatically given plastic utensils, straws, or condiments," Judith Enck, founder and president of Beyond Plastics, an environmental organization working to tackle plastic pollution, told Insider. "This not only reduces waste but also saves restaurants money."</p><p>Similar legislation is already making its way across the US, in places like <a href="https://denvergov.org/Government/Agencies-Departments-Offices/Agencies-Departments-Offices-Directory/Climate-Action-Sustainability-Resiliency/Zero-Waste/Skip-The-Stuff" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Denver, Colorado</a> and <a href="https://legistar.council.nyc.gov/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=5698350&amp;GUID=C524A575-F6E6-4618-BFDB-36E680006C09&amp;Options=ID%7CText%7C&amp;Search=0559" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New York City</a>.</p><h2>An indigenous patrol in the Amazon won a 'Green Nobel'</h2><div type="image" title="Alex Lucitante and Alexandra Narvaez on a patrol." height="3024" width="4032" msid="96628289" hostid="261" sizebytes="1125826"></div><p>The <a href="https://www.cofanlodge.com/cofan-history.htm" rel=" nofollow">Cofán community</a> along the banks of the Aguarico River in Ecuador's Amazon rainforest established an indigenous patrol, known as La Guardia, in 2017, to push back against miners' growing encroachment on their ancestral lands.</p><p>They wrote their own <a href="https://www.inredh.org/archivos/pdf/comunidad_cofan_leypropia.pdf" rel=" nofollow">law</a>, permitting patrol members to confiscate equipment and call in Ecuador's environmental police if they find trespassers in the area.</p><p>The patrol's work, and subsequent legal success, earned Alex Lucitante and Alexandra Narvaez a <a href="https://www.goldmanprize.org/recipient/alexandra-narvaez-alex-lucitante/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2022 Goldman Environmental Prize</a> for grassroots environmental activism, known as the "Green Nobel."</p><p>"I want to invite other Indigenous communities in Ecuador and the world to join these collective fights happening in Amazonia," Lucitante previously told Insider. "We're dreaming of a world where our communities — with their knowledge and culture — can keep living."</p>

You Searched For "emperor penguin habitat" and got 5 results

Satellite images spot 11 new penguin colonies in Antarctica but global warming could soon wipe them out

Prabhjote Gill

Around 10,000 penguin chicks died when the Antarctic ice they lived on melted they were still too young to survive in the icy water

Sophia Ankel

Photos show what cave divers discovered when they swam inside an iceberg the size of Jamaica. Today, it's gone.

Ellyn Lapointe

6 ways humans are transforming Antarctica from a pristine preserve to a polluted wasteland

Rupendra Brahambhatt

6 climate wins from 2022 that are worth celebrating

Paola Rosa-Aquino