Penguins, Krill & Ice

Chinstrap penguins get their name from the distinctive black line under their chin that resembles the chinstrap on a cap or helmet. They live in the southern hemisphere, on Antarctica and on land areas close to Antarctica such as Chile, Argentina, the Falkland Islands, Bouvet Island, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, and the French Southern and Antarctic Lands.

One of the primary food sources for chinstrap penguins is krill, which are small crustaceans that are found in all of the world’s oceans. According to Time Magazine, “almost every animal in the ocean eats either krill or something else that eats krill.”[1] The krill in that area of the world feed on the algae and phytoplankton which live underneath the sea ice.

A recent study found that the chinstrap penguin population has declined in most locations during the past 50 years by 50% to 75%. The reason for this decline is believed to be the warming of regions near the South Pole due to climate change, which is melting the sea ice. With less sea ice there is less algae and phytoplankton, which means there is also less krill for the penguins to eat, resulting in fewer penguins.

The Arctic and the Antarctic are warming faster than anywhere else on the planet. The year 2020 was the hottest year on record at both poles, and saw record high temperatures in Antarctica (64.9° F at Argentina’s Esperanza weather station) and the Siberian city of Verkhoyansk (100.4° F). This warming has the potential to accelerate climate change for at least two reasons. First, water absorbs much more of the Sun’s energy than ice does. Second, warmer temperatures are thawing the permafrost (ground that remains frozen year-round) where a lot of carbon (from long dead plants and animals) is currently locked away, resulting in the release of that carbon as carbon dioxide (CO₂), a potent greenhouse gas.

To avoid the catastrophe that climate scientists say is in our future if we keep pouring greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, we need to ween ourselves off of fossil fuels much faster than we are currently doing. For example, according to a 2021 report by the International Energy Agency, we need to reduce our consumption of oil by 75% by 2050. That seems unlikely.

If the current high price of gasoline and other oil products has a silver lining, it’s that high prices should decrease consumption. That would be good news for the penguins, the krill, and the world.

To learn more about global warming, and how it may be fulfilling biblical prophecy, read Chapter 11 of my book, Beyond Blind Faith, entitled “Apocalypse Soon.” You can read the entire chapter for free here. For more information on the books I’ve written, please go here.

[1] “A Truth As Cold As Ice,” by Aryn Baker, Time Magazine May 23/30, 2022.