The critically endangered emperor penguin

The emperor, the largest penguin in the world and one of only two penguin species endemic to Antarctica, gives birth during the winter and requires solid sea ice from April to December to bear fruit.

If the sea freezes later or thaws early, the emperor’s family will not be able to complete its reproductive cycle, which is the longest among penguins. After the birth of a chick, one of the parents continues to carry it between its legs to warm it until it has developed its specific feathers.

If the water reaches the newborn penguins, who are not yet ready to swim and have no waterproof feathers, they will freeze to death and drown.says biologist Marcela Libertelli, who studied 15,000 penguins in two colonies in Antarctica inLPNArgentine Antarctic Institute.

This happened to the Halley Bay colony in the Weddell Sea, the second largest colony of emperor penguins, where within three years all the chicks had died.

The scientists ’findings point to a bleak future for the species if climate change is not mitigated.

Projections suggest that colonies located between latitude 60 and 70 degrees will disappear in the coming decades.Marcela Libertelli told Reuters. The loss of any species is a tragedy for the planetsaid the biologist. This is a loss for biodiversity.

The loss of the emperor penguin could have a major impact across Antarctica, an extreme environment where food chains have fewer members and linkshe added.

In early April, the World Meteorological Organization warned increasingly extreme temperatures, along with unusual rainfall and melting ice in Antarctica-a worrying trendsays Marcela Libertelli, because Antarctic ice has been declining since 1999.

The boom in tourism and fishing in Antarctica also threatened the emperor’s future by affecting krill, one of the main food sources for penguins and other species.