They survived the hunters: Now king penguins face climate change
The Hindu
A 2018 study that found that global warming was on track to wipe out 70% of the world's king penguins by the end of the century.
Once hunted to the brink of extinction, the thousands of king penguins that densely congregate on the remote Possession Island each year now face a new threat: climate change.
The birds spend most of their life at sea, but come breeding time in December half the world's population flock to the islands in the southern Indian Ocean's Crozet archipelago, roughly halfway between Antarctica and the southeastern tip of Africa.
Robin Cristofari, a specialist in penguins at Finland's University of Turku, looks out on a colony massed at a bay on Possession Island.
"This species was not very far from extinction" after being massacred by seal hunters from the end of the 19th century to the first half of the 20th, he said.
When the hunters ran out of seals to kill, they used the penguins as fuel, burning them to melt seal blubber in cauldrons, said Cristofari.
For a short time they even made penguin oil, "but it was not good quality", he added.
The king penguin population rebounded in the latter half of the 20th century, but their numbers plateaued around 20 years ago.
“We are judges and therefore, cannot act like Mughals of a bygone era ... the writ courts in the guise of doing justice cannot transcend the barriers of law,” the High Court of Karnataka observed while setting aside an order of a single judge, who in 2016 had extended the lease of a public premises allotted to a physically challenged person to 20 years contrary to 12-year period stipulated in the law.
The High Court of Karnataka on Monday declined to interfere, at present, in the investigation against a Bharatiya Janata Party worker, who is among the accused persons facing charges of circulating obscene clips, related to “morphed” images and videos clips related to Prajwal Revanna, former Hassan MP, in public domain through pen drives and other modes.
The 16th edition of Bhoomi Habba was held on June 8, at the Visthar campus. The festival drew a vibrant crowd who came together to celebrate eco-consciousness through a variety of engaging activities, creative workshops, panel discussions, interactive exhibits and performances, all centered around this year’s theme: “Save Water, Save Lives.”