Emperor Penguins Declared Endangered as Antarctic Ice Shrinks
Emperor Penguins Declared Endangered as Antarctic Ice Shrinks
Climate-driven sea-ice loss pushes emperor penguins toward extinction, with the population projected to halve by the 2080s. Urgent action is needed to protect the species.
Emperor penguins have been added to the IUCN Red List as endangered amid a rapid decline driven by climate change. The latest assessment places the current adult population at about 595,000, down roughly 10% from 2009 to 2018, and warns it could drop by about half by the 2080s if warming continues. The emperor penguin is the largest of its species and relies on stable fast ice for nine months of the year to hatch chicks and rear them before they moult. As sea ice reaches record lows, the conditions that chicks depend on are under increasing threat, and mass events threaten entire colonies.
