New research suggests that emperor penguins will be near extinction by the year 2100 due to climate change.
The study says that shrinking sea in Antarctica will mean emperor penguins will have less space to inhabit.
Stephanie Jenouvrier, WHOI biologist and lead author of the new study, explained to Phys.org that over the last century, scientists have observed a steady decline in emperor penguin colonies living on the Dion Islet in Antarctica.
In the 1970s, she said scientists recorded more than 150 breeding pairs. "By 1999, the population was down to just 20 pairs, and in 2009, it had vanished entirely."
ABC noted that the study projected the number of emperor penguin breeding pairs in a colony at Terre Adélie in Antarctica will drop from roughly 3,000 to as few as 500 by the turn of the century.
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Jenouvrier further explained that Emperor penguins breed and raise their young almost exclusively on sea ice. If that ice breaks up during the breeding season, massive breeding failure may occur.
Even without climate change, growing up Emperor isn't easy. Jenouvier explained to The Epoch Times, “As it is, there’s a huge mortality rate just at the breeding stages, because only 50 percent of chicks survive to the end of the breeding season, and then only half of those fledglings survive until the next year.”
More of the group's research and findings can be seen here: