That’s how penguin expert Bill Fraser describes the Adelie penguin. He says they’ve fallen out of sync with their environment, and their habitat (Antarctica) is experiencing the effects of climate change much more drastically than we are in more temperate climates.
Global warming skeptics love to talk about the increase of snow in Antarctica as a sign of climate change lunacy, but here’s how it works: warmer air is shrinking the sea ice; more open water leads to more evaporation; this causes more precipitation. The Adelies developed in desert areas of Antarctica and they aren’t adjusting to a snowier Antarctica.
The New Yorker story is only available to subscribers, but there’s a synopsis here and a great narrated slide show of Fen Montaigne’s photos here.
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