Ted Talk: Can Penguins Survive Anthropogenic Climate Change

Did you know that penguins can live in many different locations and habitats? That’s what I’m talking about! These fascinating creatures can be found in places like Antarctica, Peru, and the Galapagos Islands, to name a few (10 Cool Facts About Penguins). However, despite their adaptability and unique traits, penguins face a challenge they can’t overcome, anthropogenic climate change. Dylan de Napoli, a penguin expert known as the “penguin lady” delivered an alarming comment in her Ted Talk “Can Penguins Survive Anthropogenic Climate Change? ”. She revealed that “13 of the 18 penguin species are currently listed as threatened or endangered, with some species potentially facing extinction within our lifetimes (Ted Boston, 2023, 1:32-1:40)”.

These sources include statistics from the IUCN, pictures, and facts from her experience with the historic rescue of 40,000 penguins during the Treasure Oil Spill. These sources build an appeal to logos and convince the audience that the challenge penguins are facing is worth discussing and taking action on. Through her strong use of logos, DeNapoli effectively implements pathos throughout her speech. For example, when discussing the devastating effects of climate change on penguins, she shares her experience from her first trip to Antarctica in 2009. She presents images of adorable baby penguins with their mothers and states "Out of 80,000 chicks born at this colony, only two survived(Ted Boston, 2023, 3:42-3:44)”. By first making the audience fall in love with the innocent, vulnerable chicks she creates an emotional connection, only to shatter it by revealing that most of them died. This provokes feelings of guilt and responsibility in the audience as they realize their habits contribute to the death of many baby chicks. Using pathos, DeNapoli makes the audience aware of their actions and ignites an urge to stop this and prevent further harm to the

In the beginning, she provides background information on anthropogenic climate change, explaining how “it has increased drastically causing sea ice and ice shelves around Antarctica to retreat and break apart earlier than normal resulting in less food for penguins (TedXBoston, 2023, 3:50-4:19)”. Later she emphasizes how “the increase in climate change has increased the severity and frequency of damaging storms that have caused massive loss of penguins (TedXBoston, 2023, 5:56-6:08)”. Here Kairos is evident as De Napoli discusses the urgent threats climate change poses to penguin populations. She highlights that with climate change accelerating, there is a pressing need for awareness and action. This has a positive impact on the audience since they feel like time is running out and they must, as soon as possible, make a change in the environment. De Napoli successfully motivated her audience to take action and put a stop to this. Additionally, she gave insight to the audience on how they could help. “They could help by reducing reliance on fossil fuels including the reduction of plastics, voting for politicians who are serious about climate change, and supporting penguin conservation groups and projects by providing funds or simply volunteering to help (TedXBoston, 2023,