Emperor penguin at serious danger of extinction as a consequence of climate change

The emperor penguin is at extreme risk of extinction in the next 30 to 40 years as a result of local weather change, in keeping with research by the Argentine Antarctic Institute (IAA).

The emperor, the world's largest penguin and considered one of only two penguin species endemic to Antarctica, offers birth through the Antarctic winter and requires solid sea ice from April by way of to December to nest fledgling chicks.

If the sea freezes later or melts prematurely, the emperor household can't complete its reproductive cycle.

"If the water reaches the newborn penguins, which are not ready to swim and shouldn't have waterproof plumage, they die of the chilly and drown," stated biologist Marcela Libertelli, who has studied 15,000 penguins across two colonies in Antarctica at the IAA.

This has happened on the Halley Bay colony in the Weddell Sea, the second-largest Emperor penguin colony, where for 3 years all of the chicks died.

Each August, in the midst of the southern hemisphere winter, Dr Libertelli and other scientists at Argentina's Marambio Base in Antarctica journey 65 km each day by motorcycle in temperatures as low as -40 degrees Celsius to achieve the closest Emperor penguin colony.

Once there, they rely, weigh, and measure the chicks, gather geographical coordinates, and take blood samples. They also conduct aerial evaluation.

The scientists' findings point to a grim future for the species if local weather change is just not mitigated.

"[Climate] projections suggest that the colonies that are situated between latitudes 60 and 70 degrees [south] will disappear within the next few decades; that is, within the subsequent 30, 40 years," Dr Libertelli said.

The emperor's unique features embody the longest reproductive cycle among penguins.

After a chick is born, one mother or father continues carrying it between its legs for warmth until it develops its ultimate plumage.

"The disappearance of any species is a tragedy for the planet. Whether or not small or massive, plant or animal — it does not matter. It is a loss for biodiversity," Dr Libertelli stated.

The emperor penguin's disappearance may have a dramatic impact throughout Antarctica, an extreme atmosphere where meals chains have fewer members and fewer links, Dr Libertelli said.

In early April, the World Meteorological Organization warned of "increasingly excessive temperatures coupled with uncommon rainfall and ice melting in Antarctica" — a "worrying development", stated Dr Libertelli, with Antarctic ice sheets depleting since at the least 1999.

The rise of tourism and fishing in Antarctica have additionally put the emperor's future at risk by affecting krill, one of many fundamental sources of meals for penguins and other species.

"Tourist boats usually have numerous damaging effects on Antarctica, as do the fisheries," Dr Libertelli mentioned.

"It can be crucial that there is larger management and that we take into consideration the longer term."

Reuters