Largest population of “rare penguins” discovered in Antarctica

Borowicz et al. Multi-modal survey of Adélie penguin mega-colonies reveals the Danger Islands as a seabird hotspot. Scientific Reports, March 2018.

Scientists recently discovered a supercolony of 1.5 million Adélie penguins off the Antarctic Peninsula, which have lived undisturbed for nearly 60 years. An observation in 2014 revealed a substantial amount of penguin droppings on Antarctica’s Danger Islands in NASA imagery of the area. The guano stains in the islands indicated that there must be a big colony of undiscovered penguins in the area. In 2015, groups of scientists from multiple institutions combined their efforts to begin to explore the scene. With the help of a drone, the expedition discovered an estimated 1.5 million penguins nesting in the area. The group of nine rocky islands, which lie off the northern tip nearest South America in the northwest Weddell Sea, housed the third- and fourth-largest Adelie penguin colonies in the world.

Adélie penguin numbers have dropped by about 70% in recent decades. Scientists argue that this sharp decline was caused by global warming, which has resulted in large amounts of sea ice to melt. These findings suggest that the eastern side of the Antarctic Peninsula is likely to remain more stable under climate change than the western Antarctic Peninsula. Adélies are one of five penguin species that live in and around the Antarctic continent. A medium-sized penguin, they grow to about 70 centimeters tall, and weigh 3-6 kg. The Adélie are carnivores that feed on shrimp-like creatures called krill. Most scientists agree that the most surprising and incredible thing in this discovery seems to be that, in this day and age, something so big could have been overlooked for so long. It is difficult and treacherous to get to the Danger Islands to do surveys because of the heavy ice that covers the Islands during most of the year. It is for these reasons that the supercolony went under the radar for so long.

Smartphones and tablet lights before bedtime keeps children awake

Lameese D. Sensitivity of the circadian system to evening bright light in preschool-age children. Physiological Reports, March 2018.

Electronics usage amongst preschoolers has been rapidly expanding within recent years, and concerned parents are trying to understand the ramifications for their young ones. A recent study showed that exposing kids to bright light including smartphones or tablets can alter their sleeping habits. For the study, researchers measured levels of melatonin, the principal hormone that regulates sleep, in a group of 10 children ranging from ages 3 to 5. The children were first put on a regular sleep schedule for five nights, with researchers monitoring their saliva to measure their melatonin levels. Then, on the sixth and seventh day, the kids slept in lower-light conditions.

Except that for an hour before bedtime, the preschoolers were exposed to bright light, playing on a table emitting 1,000 lux of light, which is approximately equal to the brightness of a bright room to replicate the effects of using a smartphone or tablet. The researchers then measured the children’s melatonin levels again and discovered that their levels had dropped by almost 90 percent and the effects persisted even 50 minutes later after the children returned to lower- light conditions.

A similar study previously performed on adults showed that a one-hour light stimulus of 10,000 lux (10 times that of the current study) suppressed melatonin levels by only 39 percent in adults. Since children have larger pupils and their lenses are more transparent, they are thought to be more susceptible to dysregulation of sleep and the circadian clock. Therefore, for preschoolers, this increased sensitivity to light may not only lead to trouble falling asleep one night, but also to chronic problems feeling sleepy at bedtime. Since melatonin also plays crucial roles in other bodily processes including regulation of temperature, blood pressure, and glucose metabolism, the effects of light at night exposure can definitely go beyond sleep. Studies alarmingly showed that use of electronic media among young children has tripled since 2011. One thing is very clear that parents and clinicians should make informed decisions on children’s light exposure before bedtime.

Lies spread much faster than truths

Soroush V. et al. The spread of true and false news online. Science, March 2018.

A new study demonstrated how easy it is for rumors to spread online along with how simple it is for social media to disburse these falsehoods. Researchers analyzed 126,000 tweet cascades in Twitter between 2006 and 2017 containing rumors and reached the following conclusions:

– It takes true stories about six times as long to reach 1,500 people as it does for false stories to reach the same number of people.

– Falsehoods are 70% more likely to be retweeted than truths.

– Falsehoods reach a cascade depth of 10 retweets about 20 times faster than facts.

– Twitter bots amplified true stories as much as they amplified false ones suggesting that humans, not robots, are more likely to spread falsehoods.

The study unexpectedly found that a false rumor cascade was more likely to begin with a new, unverified account with a small number of followers. False rumors are also found to contain more novelty and frequently expressed words associated with disgust and surprise. It is no surprise that people do not trust social media platforms. Seven in ten people asked by a marketing firm (2018 Edelman Trust Barometer) this year said they worry about fake news being used as a weapon. “Media” is the least trusted institution in 28 global markets the firm surveyed. But it seems that in a world where fake news dominates, real news is valued more. Overall trust in journalism and journalists increased by 5% and 12%, respectively, despite the population losing trust in social media. At the same time, however, 59% of respondents said that it is getting harder to tell whether a piece of news comes from a legitimate source or not.

Antarctica is the bottom of the world, the white continent, the harshest, most forbidding land on earth, where winds can reach 320 kph (200 mph) and temperatures can plunge below -85°C (-121° F). At the South Pole, the average temperature is -49° C (-56.2° F), while the highest recorded is -13.6°(7.5° F). The continent is the world’s largest stretch of inhospitable land. Precipitation is so sparse that it is classified as one of the world’s driest deserts. This ‘final frontier’ constitutes approximately 10% of the earth’s land surface; 98% of it is covered by ice, in places two miles thick. Antarctica accounts for 90% of the world’s ice and 68% of its fresh water. It is bigger than China and India combined, or Mexico and the US put together.

A closer look at the seemingly lifeless land and seascape reveals an amazing abundance of life. The continent is home to several species of seals, penguins and vegetation. The surrounding frigid seas are abundant in krill, protein rich shrimp-like crustaceans essential to the Antarctic ecosystem, which is one of the world’s most productive. Thirty-five species of penguins and other birds, six varieties of seals, twelve kinds of whale and nearly two hundred types of fish dwell there. The ice itself is permeated with algae and bacteria. The land is home to two species of flowering land plants, a grass and a pearlwort.

Antarctica contains traces of a wide variety of metals and hydrocarbons. Traces of cobalt, copper, chromium, gold, lead, molybdenum, manganese, nickel, silver, tin, titanium, uranium, as well as zinc, have been found in the continent. Geological surveys have postulated large quantities of oil and gas.

Hundreds of people live and work there all year round and no fewer than seventeen nations have established permanent bases to conduct scientific research. Each year, almost 5,000 registered tourists come to look at the peaks and penguins. A body called the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators has been established to regulate tourism. However, they have not been able to stop unregistered- visitors. An example was the German ship ‘Europe’ which landed more than 300 passengers on Deception Island and illegally visited a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) at Whaler’s Bay. Standards of safety and ecological care cannot be guaranteed. More alarming than the increased numbers of visitors to Antarctica is the more ‘commercial’ attitude they have towards it.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is responsible for most American research in the area. The NSF pays the US navy for transporting personnel and supplies and other logistical support. Demands for cutbacks in the US navy have resulted in proposals for ‘contracting out’ these services to commercial companies the market place has reached the ‘final frontier’!

Exploitation and commercialism have influenced fishing patterns Paul Rodhouse of the British Antarctic Survey indicated that commercial exploitation has led to the doubling of the catch of squid during the ten years leading up to 1992. The squid industry is notorious for its ‘boom and bust’ trends in 1972 a Japanese fishery began operating in the North Atlantic near Newfoundland and within eleven years one species of squid, illex illecebrosus had been wiped out. The industry is now turning its attention to Antarctica.

The biggest threat is to the stocks of krill. The 4cm shrimp-like kill live for up to seven years and are the staple food source for five whale species, three groups of seal and innumerable fish and birds, including penguins. They are central to the Antarctic food chain. Too little is known about the krill’s lifestyle to guarantee survival against the increase in harvesting that has been maintained since the early 1970s. The countries that are involved in this abuse of Antarctica are those who are supposed to be protecting it.

The Western nations were the first to claim Antarctica as theirs. James Cook circled Antarctica between 1772 and 1775, becoming the first man to reach the mainland. Since Amundsen and Scott arrived at the Pole one after another in 1911, seven nations have claimed sectoral sovereignty over the Antarctic Peninsula based on either exploration or geographical contiguity, namely Argentine, Chile, France, New Zealand, Britain, Norway and Australia.

With the adoption of the 1959 Antarctic Treaty, twelve countries began governing Antarctica. In addition to the seven claimant states, South Africa, Japan, USA and USSR became members of the exclusive Antarctic Club. Since the signing of the 1961 Antarctic Treaty, there have been twenty-six countries responsible for the management of the Antarctic Region and another sixteen party to it.

Internal bickering meant that an agreement to establish rules governing oil and mineral exploitation and development signed in Wellington, New Zealand in 1988 did not come into force. Through a protocol adopted in Madrid in 1991, the Antarctic Continent was declared ‘a natural reserve devoted to peace and science.’ Some nations have not been happy about this situation. The Malaysian Prime Minister, Dr Mahatir Bin Muhammad, said in 1982, that ‘all the unclaimed wealth of this earth must be regarded as the common heritage of all nations of this planet… It is now time that the United Nations focused its attention on these areas, the largest of which is the continent of Antarctica,’

This raised the interest of other Islamic countries. The Twentieth Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers meeting in Istanbul in August 1991, adopted a resolution reaffirming the need for all members of the international community, acting through the UN, to be involved in ‘all aspects relating to Antarctica’. In the same year, Indonesia asked a number of questions at the 1991 United Nations session as to the full participation of the international community in the management of Antarctica. The Pakistani delegate to the session, identifying his country’s growing interest and involvement in the region, referred to its expedition and establishment of an automatic weather station in January 1991. Pakistan became the first Muslim country to send an official expedition to Antarctica. Pakistan in 1992, established its Jinnah Antarctic Research Station.

There are obvious advantages for the Muslim countries. They have produced some of the top scientists in the field, including, Sayed El-Sayed of the A&M University, Texas, who is a respected marine ecologist studying the effects of ozone depletion on Antarctic life. In 1988, he discovered at Palmer Station, a US base on Antarctica, that high levels of ultraviolet damage the chlorophyll pigment vital for photosynthesis in phytoplankton, slowing the growth rate of marine plants as much as 30%.

The Islamic countries have significant commercial interest in Antarctica. In the long term, the Antarctic icebergs can solve the scarcity of fresh water. This is where the Antarctic icebergs, which amount to almost 70 per cent of the world’s drinkable water reserves, become an exploitable resource. There are predictions that in the 21st century, water will be the most precious natural resource. Current research shows that there is considerable economic interest in towing icebergs to the Gulf countries, Latin America and Northwestern Australia as a source of fresh water and energy (Crane, 1993).

Each year, 1.4 trillion tons of ice breaks off and melts into the Southern Ocean. If current difficulties can be overcome, icebergs will be enormous ‘mineable’ resources, even more valuable than the Antarctic’s huge amount of oil reserves. For example, an iceberg weighing 90 million tons would be worth almost $45 million. There are many reasons for the vegetation-poor Arab countries to be concerned with the Southern Oceans teeming with living resources. Krill stocks might be an important resource to help prevent widespread malnutrition in the poor Middle East and North African countries whose populations lack a protein-rich diet.

There are many issues related to Antarctica that the Islamic countries need to address. Should they continue to be left out while other nations exploit the last wilderness? Should they unite and pool their human and financial resources to seek advantages from Antarctica or should they be its guardians. The debate must begin.

REFERENCES

CRANE, D. (1993) ‘Below the tip of an iceberg’, Geographical, December, pp.14-17.