| April 27, 2009 : Galapagos penguins need cooler housing |
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 Global warming has created a demand for special shelters that can save rare species in the Galapagos Islands from extinction. 150 years after the English naturalist Charles Darwin published his book On the Origin of Species, scientists gathered last week in the Galapagos Islands, renowned for the rare animals that inspired Darwin’s theory of evolution, to discuss how the islands can adapt to climate change.
One of the scientists’ findings was that the indigenous penguin and other species endemic to the Galapagos Islands need “condos” built in cooler, higher areas to nest more safely. “The challenge that we’re facing is a high rate of extinction,” said Giuseppe Di Carlo, marine climate-change manager at Conservation International, from the conference. “This will have consequences for the islands’ human population as the economy here is based almost entirely on tourism and fishing.” Shadier bushes would protect plants and animals such as birds and tortoises that produce too many of the same sex in hotter weather.  spheniscus mendiculus
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