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111Sink or swim?Antarctica, the coldest place on Earth, is too cold for most humans. Its a different story for penguins, though. Several types of penguins make their home in Antarctica. The birds walk with short steps all over the icy continent.However, they dont all have “happy feet”. Some of Antarcticas penguins are endangered. The animals hunt for food in waters off Antarcticas coasts. They use floating sea ice as a place to rest while they search. In recent years, global warming, the slow rise of Earths temperature, has been causing the ice to melt.“Global warming is reducing the amount of food for penguins so that they cant find enough to eat,” scientist Shaye Wolf said.Turning up the heatHumans may be directly responsible for the continents temperature changes, according to a new study in the journal Nature Geoscience. Temperatures in Antarctica usually do not go above freezing, or 32 degrees Fahrenheit. But lately the weather has been heating up.People add to global warming when they drive cars or use electricity. That burns fossil fuels, such as coal, oil, and natural gas. The burning of fossil fuels gives off gases that warm Earth.The harmful gases stay in the atmosphere above Antarctica, researchers say. They found that the west side of the continent is especially affected by global warming.Scientists are concerned about the possibility that Antarcticas ice may melt more over time. The icy continent is about 5 million square miles. It is covered by glaciers and an ice cap (冰冠) about 7,100 feet thick. If the ice melts, that could cause sea levels to rise around the world. Higher sea levels could lead to dangerous flooding in some countries.Cool fix for AntarcticaExperts are hopeful that conditions in Antarctica can be improved. They say people can reduce global warming by using cars and electricity less often. Even kids can help. Wolf suggests, “Talk to your friends and family about global warming, how it is harming penguins, and how important it is to stop global warming today.” 111
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