Following the release of the penguin flick 'Happy Feet' (a CGI animation movie from the makers of 'Babe'), the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is being petitioned to dramatically increase the number of penguins that are listed under the Endangered Species Act.

Currently, only one of the nineteen penguin species in the world is listed as endangered - but a further twelve are regarded as in danger of extinction. The Center for Biological Diversity has this to say:

This protection would provide a vital safety net for these species on the brink of extinction, and also help alert the public to the preventable tragedy of their decline.

Global warming has already been linked to past, ongoing, and projected population declines in numerous species of penguins. The Emperor Penguin colony at Pointe Geologie, featured in the film March of the Penguins, has declined by 70% due to global warming. Even under the most optimistic greenhouse gas emission scenarios, continued warming over the next several decades will dramatically and adversely affect Antarctica, the Sub-Antarctic islands, the Southern Ocean, and the penguins dependent on these and adjoining ecosystems.

John Collee, co-writer of Happy Feet, is obviously more than just your average script-writer:

“The planet is largely covered with water yet we have this bizarre delusion that we can utterly destroy our marine ecosystems and somehow emerge unscathed. Coral reefs are in terminal decline. Whales and penguins are literally starving to death as a result of krill depletion...."

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