Emperor Penguins Population Is Declining: Blame the Global Warming

As the ice region in Antarctica shrinks due to global warming, emperor penguins are also threatened, making researchers ask to upgrade their status to the "vulnerable" category.

Dr. Michelle LaRue, the co-author of a new report on the penguins' situation published in Biological conservation, claimed that emperor penguins are known for their resiliency, but how long this would last is what concerns them.

The species settled their nesting site on a "fast ice"—a flat surface made of frozen water that is attached to an iceberg. The ice plane needs to stay intact for at least eight months, which is the total number of days required for a breeding pair to hatch an egg and raise the chick before it spends its life on the sea.

Although the formation and melting of these fast ice are still stable, continuous global warming could eventually affect it. Fast ice might form too late or melts too early, leaving the young penguins vulnerable, as they might be forced to live on the sea before their bodies are ready. 

Same thing with the adults. During the summer months of January and February, the penguins tend to shed their feathers, and without the right plumage, they might also get drowned if the ice melts faster.

In the study, it noted that the currently estimated breeding pairs are around 250,000, which could decrease by at least 50% if such a scenario happens. Due to this problem, a proposal was submitted to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the organization which monitors the endangered animals, to change the current classification of "Near Threatened" to "Vulnerable." 

"Vulnerable" is the last category before a species will be classified as "Endangered." Another author of the study, Dr. Phil Trathan, claimed that the only way to alter this prediction is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions sharply. But he also suggested that regulating fishing activities around the nesting and foraging areas of the penguins can also help improve their survival.

Dr. Trathan also claimed that they want the emperor penguins to be an "Antarctic specially protected species."

A project intended to monitor the population of the species in 10 years is ongoing, with WFF, a green campaign group, as its main financer. The project, which is led by the United Kingdom and American scientists, is expected to provide an update to IUCN next year.

Dr. Peter Fretwell, a remote-sensing specialist from the British Antarctic Survey, had pioneered a new technology that helps count penguins through the satellite from outer space.

The Emperor penguins usually lay eggs in May and hatch it in one to two months. Then, the chicks usually take at least eight months before it could finally live at sea, around March, where there is minimum sea ice.