The biggest threat to emperor penguins is not leopard seals or killer whales, but a much larger predator: global warming. Climate change, which is rapidly melting the sea ice this species depends on for survival, could cause dramatic drops in the number of emperor penguins across Antarctica by the end of the century.
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him
The greatest threat to emperor penguins they are not leopard seals or killer whales, but a much larger predator: global warming. The climate change, which is rapidly melting the sea ice on which this species depends for survival, could cause dramatic falls in the number of emperor penguins across Antarctica by the end of the century.
This is what emerges from a study by an international team of scientists published today in Nature Climate Change, which reveals that the animal is “Fully deserving of an endangered state due to climate change". Emperor penguins are in fact highly sensitive to changes in sea ice concentration. The team has determined that all colonies will be in decline - in some cases by more than 50 percent - by the end of the century, due to future climate change.
“If sea ice declines at the rates predicted by the IPCC climate models, and continues to affect emperor penguins, as it did in the second half of the 20th century, at least two-thirds of colonies will drop by more than 50 percent from their current size by 2100, "he explains Stephanie Jenouvrier, a biologist with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).
The researchers found that while some colonies will grow for a while, this growth will be short-lived. By the end of the century at least two thirds of them will decrease by more than half. More worryingly, all colonies are expected to be in decline by that time. A drastic change would be needed to reverse these declines. The emperor penguin is an iconic example of a new global paradigm for species threatened by future climate change.
Roberta Ragni
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