Photo: Tim Bieber / Photodisc / Getty Images
The emperor penguin and Antarctic fur seal have both been added to the Endangered category on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, mainly because of the impacts of climate change in Antarctica. The IUCN announced these updates Thursday (April 9), highlighting that changes in sea ice and food availability are pushing these iconic species closer to extinction.
According to the IUCN, emperor penguins, once considered Near Threatened, are now classified as Endangered due to projections that their population will be cut in half by the 2080s. Satellite images show a loss of about 10% of the population between 2009 and 2018, which equals more than 20,000 adult penguins lost. The main threat is the early break-up and loss of fast sea ice, which emperor penguins rely on for breeding and moulting. If the ice melts too soon, many chicks do not survive.
Dr. Philip Trathan, a member of the IUCN SSC Penguin Specialist Group, explained that "human-induced climate change poses the most significant threat to emperor penguins." He added, "Early sea-ice break-up in spring is already affecting colonies around the Antarctic, and further changes in sea-ice will continue to affect their breeding, feeding and moulting habitat."
The Antarctic fur seal has fallen even further, dropping from Least Concern to Endangered status. Its population has dropped by more than 50% since 2000, mainly because climate change is warming ocean waters and shrinking sea ice. This forces krill, the main food source for fur seals, to move deeper into the ocean, making it harder for seals to find enough to eat. As a result, young seals are struggling to survive, and the breeding population is getting older.
The southern elephant seal is also facing trouble, moving from Least Concern to Vulnerable, mostly because of a deadly outbreak of avian flu. The disease has hit four out of five major seal subpopulations, killing over 90% of newborn pups in some colonies. Experts worry that warming temperatures may make these kinds of disease outbreaks more common in polar regions.
These new Red List updates are based on data showing that climate change is rapidly reshaping Antarctic ecosystems. Loss of sea ice not only affects penguins and seals directly, but also disrupts the entire food chain, with krill populations declining due to changing ocean conditions. Climate scientists warn that Antarctica has lost enough ice in the past 30 years to cover the area of the City of Los Angeles ten times over, and the trend is worsening.
Dr. Grethel Aguilar, IUCN Director General, said, "These important findings should spur us into action across all sectors and levels of society to decisively address climate change."