24 Stunning Places That Climate Change Is Destroying For Future Generations

Antarctica

Image: Shutterstock/Volodymyr Goinyk

To many people, Antarctica may seem like a lifeless continent. But Antarctica is home to almost 10,000 unique species, including emperor penguins, leopard seals and many species of whales.

Sadly, the Antarctic peninsula region is one of the fastest warming places on earth. The damage climate change is causing to this snowy continent is irreversible. Sea ice in some areas of the Antarctic Ocean has been absent three months longer than it had been just twenty years ago. The lack of sea ice has a devastating affect on Antarctica’s species. Since 1975, the Adelie penguin community has been cut by 80%. Scientists predict the population of emperor penguins will be reduced by 80% by the year 2100 as well.

You can join the Antarctic Ocean Alliance to help protect the habitat of the Antarctic. The world depends on Antarctica for vital global warming research. The Southern Ocean and Antarctica’s relatively untouched environment create a critical laboratory for scientists researching climate change. Setting large marine reserves in the Ross Sea and elsewhere would form important global climate reference areas.