Antarctica emperor penguin chicks decimated by global warming
- Of five sites monitored in the Bellingshausen Sea region, all but one experienced a 100 per cent loss of chicks, a nature journal reported
- The babies drowned or froze to death when sea ice gave way under their feet, ‘probably a sign of things to come’
Of five sites monitored in the Bellingshausen Sea region, all but one experienced a 100 per cent loss of chicks, they reported in Communications: Earth & Environment, a Nature journal.
They called it a “catastrophic breeding failure”.
“This is the first major breeding failure of emperor penguins across several colonies due to sea ice loss, and is probably a sign of things to come,” said lead author Peter Fretwell, a researcher at the British Antarctic Survey.
“We have been predicting it for some time, but actually seeing it happening is grim.”
Last year’s southern hemisphere spring – from mid-September to mid-December – saw record-low sea ice in the Southern Ocean, especially along the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, a prime breeding ground for the world’s largest penguin species.