Target: Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UN Environment Programme
Goal: Protect Antarctica’s animals from dire effects of global heating.
A record-breaking heat wave caused dozens of drowning deaths across Europe. The potential collapse of a key global ocean current system could cause catastrophic shifts in rainfall patterns and other climate events. A super-strong El Nino could super-charge major natural disasters. And among the most ominous harbingers of global warming’s lasting impact on Earth rests at the bottom of the world.
In western Antarctica, a quarter of a million miles of sea ice has vanished. This area is roughly equivalent to the size of France. The ice crisis is happening in the midst of a continental heat wave that has seen temperatures soar well above average. As a consequence, penguins are losing their habitats at an alarming rate. Emperor penguins have already endured a large-scale breeding failure in 2022, when thousands of chicks died.
Sign the petition below to demand global action.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Executive Director Andersen,
The massive loss of sea ice around Antarctica’s Bellingshausen Sea could lead to an ecological crisis that eclipses the catastrophic breeding failure that afflicted emperor penguins a few years prior. Massive Antarctic heat waves, combined with soaring sea temperatures and the possible upending of ocean currents, will only exacerbate these problems. Please make salvaging Antarctic ecosystems and remedying their primary stressors a top priority.
Antarctica’s present is the world’s future.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo Credit: Christopher Michel
