King penguins are the rare species benefiting from a warming world. But that could change

King penguins are adapting to climate change in a way that seems to help them breed successfully, which is unusual. Researchers tracked about 19,000 birds on a sub-Antarctic island chain and found breeding is starting 19 days earlier than in 2000. Wednesday’s study links the earlier timing to a 40% jump in breeding success. That’s a rarity in the natural world, where warming often means mismatches in timing for species that depend on each other, like bees and flowers. Scientists say the king penguins benefit from being flexible in diet and breeding. It’s a climate change success story, but scientists caution it may only be for now.

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