New research suggests that emperor penguins will be near
extinction by the year 2100 due to climate change. The study
says that shrinking sea in Antarctica will mean emperor penguins
will have less space to inhabit. Stephanie Jenouvrier, WHOI
biologist and lead author of the new study, explained to
Phys.org that over the last century, scientists have observed a
steady decline in emperor penguin colonies living on the Dion
Islet in Antarctica. In the 1970s, she said scientists recorded
more than 150 breeding pairs. "By 1999, the population was down
to just 20 pairs, and in 2009, it had vanished entirely." ABC
noted that the study projected the number of emperor penguin
breeding pairs in a colony at Terre Adélie in Antarctica will
drop from roughly 3,000 to as few as 500 by the turn of the
century. More from GlobalPost: Depraved penguins shocked
explorer Jenouvrier further explained that Emperor penguins
breed and raise their young almost exclusively on sea ice. If
that ice breaks up during the breeding season,