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- Emperor penguins in Antarctica have experienced unprecedented breeding failure as a result of sea ice loss.
- In one region of Antarctica where there was total sea ice loss in 2022, chicks from four out of five colonies perished.
- The findings support predictions that over 90% of emperor penguin colonies will be quasi-extinct by the end of the century.
- For climate change news and analysis, go to News24 Climate Future.
A new study, published in Communications Earth & Environment earlier this week, found that melting sea ice poses a major threat to emperor penguins.
Researchers from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) studied colonies in the central and eastern Bellingshausen Sea region.
They concluded that there was a high probability that no chicks survived from four out of five emperor penguin colonies in the area in 2022.
"We have never seen emperor penguins fail to breed, at this scale, in a single season," says lead author of the study, Dr Peter Fretwell.
"The loss of sea ice in this region during the Antarctic summer made it very unlikely that displaced chicks would survive."
READ | EXPLAINER | Antarctica is missing a chunk of sea ice bigger than Greenland – what's going on?
The scientists examined satellite images showing sea ice loss
at breeding sites well before chicks would have developed waterproof feathers.
Emperor penguins depend on stable sea ice firmly attached to the shore - dubbed "land-fast" ice - for the majority of the year from April to January.
Once they arrive at their chosen breeding site, penguins lay eggs during the Antarctic winter from May to June. The eggs hatch after 65 days, but the chicks do not fledge until summer, between December and January.
Between 2018 and 2022, 30% of the 62 known emperor penguin colonies in Antarctica were affected by partial or total sea ice loss, according to the study.
"We know that emperor penguins are highly vulnerable in a warming climate - and current scientific evidence suggests that extreme sea ice loss events like this will become more frequent and widespread," adds Fretwell.
90% of emperor penguin colonies risk extinction
Emperor penguins have previously responded to incidents of sea ice loss by moving to more stable sites the following year. But, scientists say that this strategy won’t work if sea ice habitat across an entire region is affected.
READ | 2023 set to be another bad year for Swiss glaciers - researcher
Climate change is considered the only major factor
influencing long-term population change of emperor penguins.
Recent predictions paint a bleak picture: if present rates of warming continue, over 90% of colonies will be quasi-extinct by the end of this century.
"This paper dramatically reveals the connection between sea ice loss and ecosystem annihilation," says Dr Jeremy Wilkinson, a sea ice physicist at BAS.
"It is another warning sign for humanity that we cannot continue down this path, politicians must act to minimise the impact of climate change. There is no time left."
