Penguins are my favorite animal, so I decided to research an article pertaining to them. I found an interesting study performed by a member of the Department of Biology at the University of Washington and a member of the Wildlife Conservation Society in the Bronx. The study was performed from 1983-2010, and they were studying the Magellanic Penguin and the effect that climate change had on their reproduction. Before reading this article, I did not really know anything about this topic besides the fact that most penguins require a cold environment. I figured that the warming of the global temperatures were harming the penguins in general, but I did not know the effect on their reproduction specifically.
The article included how they performed the study as well as their results. I was surprised to find that many of the penguin chicks died from starvation, as well as predation. But it was the most surprising how many of them died from an increase in storms. “In 1999 rain killed as many chicks as all other causes of death combined and in 1991 rain killed as many chicks as starvation and predation combined” (Boersma & Rebstock, 2014).
After reading this article, I better understand the effect that climate change has on certain animals. It does not only affect their habitats and their ability to survive in the environment, but it also affects their ability to reproduce and have their young live. However, I still hope to learn more about the effects on other species, not just penguins in specific. I am curious to see whether all of the effects are detrimental, or if for any animal it actually makes their chances of survival better.
Boersma, P., & Rebstock, G. (2014, January 29). Climate Change Increases Reproductive Failure in Magellanic Penguins. Retrieved September 14, 2014, from http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0085602
AP Biology 
I think that conserving species is really important so that we don’t lose biodiversity and the article that you picked was extremely interesting. However, I must bring up the idea: this could lead to evolution. I obviously do not wish for species to go extinct, but evolution only occurs when the organisms that are able to survive certain conditions, reproduce. Therefore, death is an important component of change and evolution. I think that some species will be able to evolve and we may live to see a remarkable shift within the environment and its populations.
Despite this, I strongly believe that our contributions to global warming and climate change are increasing the rate of death dramatically beyond what the death rate would be if human pollution did not exist. Due to this, species are not getting the time that they need to evolve before going extinct and this is something that truly needs attention from the scientific community.
I also am completely eager to learn and see what happens to all the different species and if they will be able to cope with the climate change.
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I find this topic very interesting as well, especially because I have a huge interest in marine and aquatic animals, and would like to have a career in studying them. I am also in AP Environmental Science, so I have interests in nature and how the environment works globally. It is surprising to me that rain and storms can have such a large impact on the population, especially because it is not common since rain is a natural occurance. This proves that the environment is constantly changing and things such as global warming can change certain ecosystems and populations so drastically.
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It is frightening the extent to which we are affecting the lives of everything else on this planet. Most scientists believe we are in the middle of the next “great extinction” causes soley by human actions. Many of these effects take place on the edges of wilderness, where it is only with specific research that we can find out that they are happening. Nice article and good post.
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