On the Sunny Beaches of Brazil, A Perplexing Inrush of Penguins
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/02/AR2008100204225.html?hpid=topnews
This article is about the sudden influx of penguins that Brazil has been experiencing. Normally some penguins wash up to shore when they follow the currents looking for food. Usually they turn around once they start hitting warmer water but this year the water has been colder than usual. They come from the bottom of Argentina, near Antarctica more than two thousand miles south of where they have been found. This year there have been over one thousand penguins who have come as far north as the equator. Zoos are making room and even navy ships are taking some of them home but most of the penguins have to go into rehabilitation first because many arrive very weak. This article is so interesting because of all of the recent debate on climate change. Although climate change has been responsible for making parts of the Amazon rain forests dry savannahs scientists are unsure as to its responsibility in this situation. There was also the first ever hurricane in the South Atlantic in 2004. But it seems like an awfully big coincidence that this is happening at the same time as all global warming. The only way that we can really tell what is happening is by continuing research. But scientists have agreed that there are significant climate changes in the Southern Hemisphere. The question is whether it is the normal cycle of the planet or something else. It just shows how important our actions are to the rest of the planet, either negatively (global warming) or positively (saving penguins).