Scientists say the loss of ice around Antarctica is hurting the survival of emperor penguin chicks.
FILE - Emperor penguin chicks stand together in Antarctica on Dec. 21, 2005. The loss of ice in a region near Antarcticas Bellingshausen Sea in 2022 likely resulted in none of the emperor penguin chicks surviving in four colonies in that area, researchers reported Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023, in Nature Communications Earth and Environment.
Researchers used satellite imagery to look at breeding colonies in a region near Antarctica’s Bellingshausen Sea. The images showed no ice was left there in December during the Southern Hemisphere's summer, as had occurred in 2021. “If the sea ice breaks up under them, the young chicks will drown or freeze to death,” said Peter Fretwell, a researcher at the British Antarctic Survey and co-author of the study published Thursday inOverall, the ice around Antarctica reached near record low levels last year. The researchers say that climate change will make such losses more frequent in the future.
Of 62 known penguin colonies, around 30% were harmed by low sea-ice levels last year — and 13 likely failed entirely, Fretwell said.
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