Penguins like all animals and plants have developed brilliant ways to survive. Penguins can be found in a cold as well as a warm climate. And they deal with the climate challenges in different ways, penguin chicks in Antarctica learn to skate on the ice whereas Galápagos penguin chicks are masters of sliding on rocks.
Changes in our climate may turn penguins into climate refugees.
Changes in the climate could force the penguins to move, look for new types of food and search for new nesting habitats. Warming seas could change the abundance of penguins’ prey, resulting in changes in the composition of their diets. Many species of penguins nest on cold on dry snow but warming climate could result in rain, or prematurely melting snowfall, creating puddles on the ground. Chicks lacking rainproof feathers could become wet and die from hypothermia even if the place is warmer.
What superpowers would penguins need to survive? And what can we learn?