Explorers venture into uncharted territory to help scientists map Antarctica’s emperor penguin population from space
Trathan says satellite mapping could help scientists recognize when populations of isolated emperors and even other species are afflicted by climate change. “If we want to conserve these valuable ecosystems, we need a way to recognize when they are being affected,” he says. “We think emperor penguins are like a canary in a coal mine for climate change. This approach could help us notice when something is wrong before it is too late for any kind of action.”
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Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI am not familiar with the geography of Antarctica. In one of the slides titled 'Seaside View', the East Antartica Coast was mentioned. Where exactly is the East Antartica Coast? Is it arbitrarily named? my understanding is that there shouldn't be a true east coast if the land mass encloses the South Pole.
“Humans Make First Contact with Emperor Penguin Colony” I believe that, perhaps, the first time was during the 1910–1913 British Antarctic Expedition led by Robert Falcon Scott. As the bird nests during the Antarctic winter, it was necessary to mount a special expedition in July 1911 from the expedition's base at Cape Evans to the penguins' rookery at Cape Crozier. It was Dr Edward Wilson, the expedition’s zoologist together with Mr. Cherry-Garrard and Mr. 'Birdie' Bowers who crossed the Ross Ice Shelf under conditions of complete darkness and temperatures of −40°C and below. It was Wilson’s personal goal in Antarctica was to recover eggs of the Emperor penguin for scientific study. Cherry-Garrard later described the ordeal in his book The Worst Journey in the World.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHi Meansamom- East Antarctica is all that which lies on the Indian Ocean side of the Transantarctic Mountains. There's a good map which illustrates this here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Antarctica
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThey're such most charming people.
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