Emperor penguin declared endangered due to climate change. This comes as global authority on threatened wildlife announced the species’ status has changed from “near threatened” to “endangered”.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) stated that changes in sea ice caused by climate change are expected to halve the emperor penguin population by 2080.
Philip Trathan, part of the IUCN expert group who worked on the Red List assessment, said human-induced climate change poses the most significant threat to emperor penguins.
The Antarctic fur seal was also moved to endangered category due to its numbers having plunged more than 50% since 1999. The impact of rising ocean temperatures and shrinking sea ice is reducing food availability for seals.
Emperor penguins breed on sea ice in winter, with males relying on flat surface to keep eggs warm. But climate change has made sea ice less stable, causing early break-up or retreat in spring.
Since 2016, satellite imagery indicates around 20,000 adults have disappeared alone between 2009 and 2018. Christophe Barbraud, a scientist at French research institute CNRS, said emperor penguins are closely associated with sea ice and will have great difficulty surviving without it.
The IUCN also moved the southern elephant seal from “least concern” to “vulnerable”, following population declines caused by a deadly contagious pathogen.