This was predicted twenty years ago.
I was in the office of an Antarctic scientist that is a Marine Ornithologist in 2003. He provided me with copies of his recent research from Antarctica. We chatted about the climate and future and he stated the Emperor Penguins has a high chance of extinction because they are hard wired to their habitat. They migrate to and from feeding and nesting grounds on cue by nature and always in the same manner and the same habitat.
Antarctica was a solid ice mass on land for millennia. It was only in the past 150 years that the warming of Earth would destroy life as we know it.
By James Doubek
The emperor penguin population of Antarctica (click here) is in significant danger due to diminishing sea ice levels and is being granted endangered species protections, U.S. wildlife authorities announced Tuesday.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said it has finalized protections for the flightless seabird under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), listing the penguins as a threatened species.
"This listing reflects the growing extinction crisis and highlights the importance of the ESA and efforts to conserve species before population declines become irreversible," Service Director Martha Williams said in a statement. "Climate change is having a profound impact on species around the world and addressing it is a priority for the Administration. The listing of the emperor penguin serves as an alarm bell but also a call to action."...
Another species of penguin to be worried about are the Adelie Penguins. They are the next to smallest. Their habitat is different from the Emperor Penguins. The Adelies like the coast. The greatest change in habitat occurs along Antarctica's coast. So, currently the Adelies are considered "near threatened."
Adélie penguins (click here) were discovered in 1840 by scientists on the French Antarctic expedition led by explorer Jules Dumont d’Urville. D’Urville named Adélie Land, in southern Antarctica, after his wife, Adéle. Scientists Jacques Hombron and Charles Jacquinot also attributed this name to the species....
It is expected that if all the other species fail, it will be the "Chinstrap" penguins that will survive. At least that is the estimation.
