The population of emperor penguins in Antarctica has declined by almost a quarter (22%) in the past 15 years due to global warming, which is changing their icy habitat.
This is stated in a study published in the journal Nature, details are reported by AFP.
Scientists analyzed satellite images of 16 colonies on the Antarctic Peninsula, the Weddell Sea, and the Bellingshausen Sea, which are home to nearly a third of the worldʼs emperor penguin population.
According to one of the studyʼs authors, Peter Fretwell, who tracks wildlife from space for the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), what they found is "probably about 50% worse" than the most pessimistic estimates of current population sizes made using computer modeling.
Researchers know that climate change is causing losses, but the speed of the decline is a particular cause for concern.
Scientists found that the number of studied colonies decreased by 22% in the 15 years to 2024. For comparison: between 2009 and 2018, the population reduction was 9.5%.
The reason is global warming, which is thinning and destabilizing the ice under the penguinsʼ feet in their breeding grounds. In recent years, some colonies have lost all their chicks when the ice beneath them broke, throwing the chicks into the sea before they were old enough to cope with the freezing ocean.
Computer models predict that this penguin species will be close to extinction by the end of the century if humans do not reduce greenhouse gas emissions that are warming the planet.
"We have a really depressing picture of climate change and population declines even faster than we thought, but itʼs not too late. Weʼre probably going to lose a lot of emperor penguins along the way, but if people change and if we reduce or reverse our climate emissions, then we will save emperor penguins," Fretwell said.
For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine, please follow us on X.