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Penguins walking away into blizzard conditions.

Penguins walking away into blizzard conditions.
Penguins walking away into blizzard conditions.
Penguins walking away into blizzard conditions.
Penguins walking away into blizzard conditions.
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131773
Linder, Christopher L.
Penguins walking away into blizzard conditions.
Still Image
12/21/2007
graphics/pd3-1/cl_20071221_antarctica_adeliepenguins_040.jpg
When we reached the colony we found the little Adelies going about their daily routines and clearly unimpressed by the weather. The penguin superhighway was full of birds winding down to the ocean. The colonies still reverberated with penguin cries, some greeting and others quarreling. In quiet moments we even heard a few peeps from chicks, most of whom had their heads tucked securely under the warm folds of their parents' bellies. Though the winds seem brutal to us, penguins probably wouldn't be here without them, Ballard said. They keep the rocks blown free of snow, leaving the ground open for penguin nests. And they push sea ice away from the land, forming a persistent patch of open water where the fishing is good.
Image of The Day caption:
The main reason why Antarctica is colder than the Arctic is that Antarctica is a continent surrounded by an ocean. The Arctic is an ocean almost completely surrounded by continents and Greenland. The Arctic's ice is relatively thin compared with Antarctica and it has water ?not land? under it. While the water is not warm, it usually stays around 30? F, which is often significantly warmer than the air above the ice. Some of this heat makes its way through the ice to the air moderating temperatures somewhat. By contrast, Antarctic has a higher average elevation that any other continent on Earth, and it is covered by a few thousand feet of ice. All the snow and ice covering the continent reflects most of the sun's light and makes Antarctica the coldest place on Earth.
Photo by Chris Linder
© Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
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