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INTRO: In October, Penguin Books published a book called “A World Without Ice.” Retired University of Michigan climate expert Henry Pollack sounds the alarm on global warming. In January, professor Pollack went to Antarctica. He studied the ice there and he studied the animals…including penguins. Michigan Now’s Chris McCarus has the story.
Henry Pollack describes how to set foot onto Antarctica.
“You jump off of a Zodiac into the water and wade ashore like a marine. And with luck you don’t get wet.”
January and February mean winter in Pollack’s hometown of Ann Arbor. But it’s summer near the south pole. He’s been going there this time of year for the last 2 decades. It’s about 32 degrees in the summer. Still not hospitable enough for overnight camping.
“You stay on board the ship but we go ashore everyday.”
Coming from sea level, every direction is up. The hills are steep. Pollack and a half dozen others walk through rocks and snow. In the 1970’s Pollack did research in Zambia. He walked around the savannah drilling holes in the ground and sticking thermometers in it. He had a lot of contact with animals. Same in Antarctica. Phytoplankton are the smallest animals. Then….
“Further up the food chain, the krill which are little crustaceans, they like the algae. The penguins like the krill. The whales like the krill. The seals like the penguins. It’s far from being devoid of life. It’s tremendously abundant in life.”
Warmer weather has brought more snow and that snow has covered penguins nests. Adelie Penguins are in trouble.
“Places where Adelie penguins used to be abundant today they’re almost gone. It’s because of this change in sea ice.”
The Adelie penguin population has declined. But now there are more Chin strap and Jentoo penguins. They live better without sea ice. Professor Pollack saw a lot of them.
“They’re cute. One of the first rules of visiting the Antarctic is you don’t want to disturb it. So anything that you would do that would alter the behavior of the wildlife is a no no. But if you just sit down on a rock and they come up to you they peck at your boots. They look at your gloves. The wonder who is this strange red penguin or yellow penguin depending on what color parka you have.”
The Emperor species starred in the movie ‘March of the Penguins.’ They live further south and haven’t yet been affected by melting sea ice. And what’s wrong with larger populations of Chinstrap and Jentoo penguins? Scientists like Henry Pollack say global warming has changed the ecology. Everything has to adjust. Author Thomas Friedman calls the process global wierding. It’s not clear which animals will win and lose in the next few years.
“Here we’re looking at some penguins and there’s one that is all red on its chest. This is not a penguin that has had a fight.”
At his home in Ann Arbor, Henry Pollack shows pictures of Antarctica.
“This is a penguin that has slipped and fallen into the guano. It’s now all over him. This is penguin poop. He’s now on his way to the ocean. I don’t think he cares that he’s dirty. But he’s going for food and he’ll come back clean. They’re noisy. They’re talking all the time. They’re talking to each other. Even though there might be 50,00 penguins in a place. Mother and father recognize each others voice. One sits on the egg or guards the chick while the other is off getting food.. They can come back two days later and start squawking and the mate will squawk back and the mate will know right where to go.”
Henry Pollack’s latest book is called “A World Without Ice.” It would be unfortunate if this leads to a world without penguins.
