They are the biggest and most fascinating of 17 species of penguins world-wide. These “giant” penguins found only in the Ross Sea and Weddell Sea regions of Antarctica spend their entire life in one of the coldest, harshest climates on earth.
Climate changes to their habitat are threatening their reproduction rates and their existence. The World Wildlife Fund report (2007) states, that the Antarctic is getting warmer “five times faster than the average rate of global warming” around the earth.
Habitat Threat: Antarctica is a barren ice land with temperatures that can drop as low as -80 degrees and winds can reach 120 miles per hour and the emperor penguins have adapted quite successfully to the harsh habitat. These birds caught the entire world's attention and hearts in the movie “March of the Penguins”, released a few years ago, which explained how they bred and raised their young. These majestic animals are the only Antarctic birds to breed in the winter and this adaptation probably developed because it was the time of year when food was bountiful and predators scarce.
Our world's warming temperatures means warmer and wetter air that brings too much snow during at the wrong time of the year for the penguins. This is causing their breeding patterns to be drastically affected, as they must wait for the snow to melt to make their “march”.
It also is causing much thinner sea ice and less of it in the regions the penguins breed. Many of these penguins live and breed on what is called “fast-ice” or frozen ocean and as the ice melts and breaks away from the continental ice shelf of Antarctica the penguin colonies drift out to sea and their platform recedes beneath them before their baby chicks are ready to make the swim to another floating ice “raft”. World conservation organizations believe there are only 3 land colonies of Emperor Penguins in all of Antarctica.
Food Threat: The rising temperatures are affecting the food supply (krill and squid) the penguins need to survive. Plus, the over fishing of the Antarctic region and Oceans north of the cold waters is seriously changing the food chain of the penguins.
Predator Threat: The natural predatory danger of leopard seals, sharks and orcas pales in comparison to the impending climate changes concerning emperor penguin extinction.
Population Numbers: The WWF reports some emperor penguin colonies are half the size they were 50 years ago!
