Emperor penguin at severe threat of extinction on account of climate change

The emperor penguin is at severe threat of extinction within the next 30 to 40 years on account of climate change, in keeping with research by the Argentine Antarctic Institute (IAA).

The emperor, the world's largest penguin and one in all only two penguin species endemic to Antarctica, provides beginning in the course of the Antarctic winter and requires stable sea ice from April by means of to December to nest fledgling chicks.

If the ocean freezes later or melts prematurely, the emperor household cannot full its reproductive cycle.

"If the water reaches the new child penguins, which are not able to swim and would not have waterproof plumage, they die of the cold and drown," stated biologist Marcela Libertelli, who has studied 15,000 penguins throughout two colonies in Antarctica at the IAA.

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

Every August, in the middle of the southern hemisphere winter, Dr Libertelli and different scientists at Argentina's Marambio Base in Antarctica journey 65 km each day by motorbike in temperatures as low as -40 degrees Celsius to reach the nearest Emperor penguin colony.

Once there, they rely, weigh, and measure the chicks, gather geographical coordinates, and take blood samples. Additionally they conduct aerial analysis.

The scientists' findings point to a grim future for the species if climate change will not be mitigated.

"[Climate] projections suggest that the colonies which might be situated between latitudes 60 and 70 levels [south] will disappear in the next few many years; that's, within the next 30, 40 years," Dr Libertelli said.

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

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

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

The emperor penguin's disappearance might have a dramatic affect all through Antarctica, an extreme environment the place meals chains have fewer members and fewer links, Dr Libertelli said.

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

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

"Vacationer boats typically have numerous adverse effects on Antarctica, as do the fisheries," Dr Libertelli said.

"It is necessary that there is better management and that we think about the longer term."

Reuters