Climate Change, characterized by rising temperatures, sea levels, and ocean acidity, poses an existential risk to countless species around the globe. For species like the Antarctic Adélie penguin, disappearing sea ice and rising acidity and temperatures could lead to their extinction in the coming years. Using 30 years of satellite imagery from the NASA/USGS Landsat mission, a team of researchers studied the eating habits of this penguin species by analyzing the distribution and color of their guano across Antarctica.

Their research, which appears in a study in Current Biology, is a major first for Earth science, where space-based observations were used to capture food-web and population dynamics at a continental scale. Their conclusions were frightening, indicating that global warming and shrinking sea ice are altering penguin diets, with consequences for their health and longevity. Their findings provide measurable insights into how penguin diets and populations correlate with the impacts of climate change.

The research team was led by Clemson University and included researchers from Stony Brook University, UC Santa Cruz, NASA, and other institutions. For their study, they analyzed the color across visible and infrared wavelengths to obtain a “spectral signature” of guano. Based on its color, the team reconstructed the diets of Adélie penguins from 1984 to 2013. This was coupled with sample collections from penguin colonies, which were analyzed in the lab to measure spectral properties.

*Artist’s impression of a Landsat satellite. Credit: NASA*

They then ran a stable isotope analysis on these samples to determine where the penguins’ diet fell in terms of more krill or more fish. This is especially important because Adélie penguins typically subsist on fish in areas with more sea ice, but consume more krill in regions where sea ice has decreased. As such, mapping out the species’ dietary patterns served as a useful indicator of broader changes in Antarctic ecosystems due to the impacts of Climate Change.

With the combined data, the team was able to build a model linking guano spectra to diet, which they then applied to Landsat imagery.

The study is the first to use satellite observations to measure food-web dynamics on a continental scale over the span of decades. Previously, studying food webs and population dynamics across all of Antarctica has been difficult due to its vast expanse, remoteness, and the logistical challenges of working in a freezing and windy environment. Whereas researchers could collect samples and monitor populations in some colonies, sampling every colony repeatedly over decades was impossible.

This study also highlights how Earth-monitoring satellites can enable scientists to track environmental changes and their impact on local species. Using Landsat imagery, the team studied penguin colonies across the continent over decades to monitor their feeding patterns. Said Dr. Casey Youngflesh, an Assistant Professor at Clemson University:

Satellites enabled us to do something that would otherwise be impossible. The innovation wasn’t the satellite technology itself, but the ability to leverage these decades of satellite imagery with modern geochemical, statistical, and computational tools. No one intended for these satellites to be used to monitor penguins, but now we’re able to use them in these novel ways.

*Penguin colony as seen by drones. Credit: Thomas Sayre-McCord/WHOI/MIT*

The team’s findings have deep implications for the long-term survival of Adélie penguins. While they are among the top predators in Antarctica, their diet is limited to a few prey species, primarily Antarctic silverfish and krill. In addition to being less nourishing than fish, krill is also becoming less abundant in some parts of the continent due to rising temperatures and increased consumption by seal and whale populations (which are currently recovering).

In the years since the study period, scientists have monitored large-scale reductions and record lows in Antarctic sea ice. If those declines continue, Adélie penguins may have to shift toward more krill-dominated diets, with consequences for their long-term survival. Said co-author Michael J. Polito, a professor of ocean sciences at UC Santa Cruz:

Adélie penguins are an iconic species breeding all around the continent of Antarctica. They act as a ‘canary in the coal mine,’ and our study illustrates how recent warming has disrupted the Antarctic marine food web they rely on to the detriment of many of their populations.

We spied on penguins from space by using satellite images to figure [out] what they eat all around Antarctica to help explain their diet and population response to recent climate change. Antarctica has experienced rapid environmental change in recent decades, and this approach gives us a new and powerful tool to learn how it has affected penguins.

Further Reading: UCSC, Current Biology

On a recent weekday afternoon, cars were already parked bumper to bumper along the residential streets near Pico Boulevard. On the boulevard itself, parking spots were filling up as drivers hurtled down the busy roadway.

The corridor is lined with small businesses: neighborhood markets as well as nail salons, repair shops, sign makers and restaurants.

Business owners say they recognize that Pico Boulevard has a speeding problem and can be dangerous for pedestrians.

The Los Angeles Department of Transportation wants to make the corridor safer for pedestrians, bicyclists and drivers. But that will come at the expense of 228 parking spots, which are already hard to come by in the neighborhood.

LADOT is set to overhaul 3.5 miles of Pico Boulevard between Crenshaw Boulevard and Figueroa Street to reduce speeding and unsafe turns and lane changes. The agency says the project is intended to improve safety by adding a center turn lane for left turns and emergency vehicles, protected bike lanes and new “two can cross” traffic signals at Manhattan Place and New Hampshire Avenue. The transportation department also will repair sidewalks and curb ramps.

To make room, the city will remove parking on the north side of the street and reduce travel lanes from two to one in each direction. Construction is set to begin by the end of the year.

City officials say the changes are needed after years of serious crashes. Between 2014 and 2023, 75 crashes on this stretch of Pico resulted in severe injury or death. Nearly three-quarters involved people walking or riding bicycles, and all 11 people killed were pedestrians, according to LADOT.

Jose Gonzalez, owner of Jagarhaus, a gallery and event space that has been in the neighborhood for six years, supports most of the city’s proposed improvements. But removing a full side of curb parking from a narrow commercial street does not make sense to him

Joey Bang, who has run Sign Art on Pico for two decades, said parking is already difficult for both businesses and residents nearby.

“There already isn’t enough parking,” Bang said. “Even residents of this neighborhood park here in front because there isn’t enough parking. If they get rid of the parking out front, business will go down so much.”

Bang said he had not received any communication from LADOT before a visit last month from department representatives who told him about the project.

Bang said he’d be on board if Pico were a wider street. He’s also concerned about how construction will affect his business.

“Small businesses are already struggling,” he said. “If this goes through, Pico as we know it will come to an end.”

The city Department of Transportation began outreach in May 2025 and spent about a year gathering feedback from businesses and residents, according to spokesperson Colin Sweeney. The agency said it went door to door, mailed notices to 1,842 nearby addresses, distributed door hangers, met with the Byzantine Latino Quarter Business Improvement District, emailed stakeholders, conducted surveys and shared information online. Outreach materials were available in English, Spanish, Korean and K’iche’.

LADOT said it reached more than 2,500 people, with 75% of survey respondents favoring a design that includes protected bike lanes.

Construction will be completed in phases over about a year. Sweeney said the city would notify residents and businesses before work begins, and LADOT will provide traffic control and detour assistance during construction.

The project is one of the major street redesigns moving forward as Los Angeles implements Measure HLA.

Lorenzo Martinez, owner of Olympic Tools, learned about the project in June when someone brought him a flier. Martinez has a few parking spaces behind his business, but said trucks still need to stop in front for deliveries.

“If trucks cannot park in the front, that will affect me,” Martinez said. “I like how it is now. I don’t really see a lot of bikes out here. I want it to stay as it is.”

Sweeney said LADOT is still making adjustments to the project, including adding loading zones, creating more parking on the south side of Pico and nearby streets, relocating some bus stops and identifying additional ADA-accessible parking. Peak-hour parking restrictions will also be removed.

Fashion designer Galadriel Mattei owns a brick-and-mortar clothing store on the same long block between Union Avenue and Bonnie Brae Street.

She said the lack of alleys and limited places to cross the street already make it difficult for customers to reach her business, particularly older adults and people with disabilities who need to park nearby.

She also worries customers will end up parking deeper in the neighborhood, adding pressure to already crowded residential streets.

“With neighborhoods like this that are so densely populated, it is really always a fine line with how the businesses interact with the people who live here,” Mattei said.

A cyclist herself, Mattei said she doesn’t oppose bike lanes or other safety improvements. She agrees that drivers often speed along Pico and that the street can be dangerous for pedestrians. But her concern is that the city’s design doesn’t account for how the block actually functions.

During the school year, parking on the north side of Pico is restricted for several hours each day for student drop-offs at a nearby school, she said, forcing drivers onto her side of the street.

Hanna Kang writes for the L.A. Local, a nonprofit newsroom serving Los Angeles communities.