Since 2016, sea ice levels have decreased dramatically. The Wildlife Foundation said thousands of chicks froze to death or drowned.
Emperor penguins added to endangered species list due to decreasing sea ice
Emperor penguins are “dependent on stable Antarctic sea ice,” the World Wildlife Fund said. Penguins are now endangered due to decreasing sea ice.
Emperor penguins and Antarctic fur seals have been added to the endangered species list by an international organization that tracks the extinction risk of plants and animals around the world.
Wildlife groups say the decision for both species was influenced by the decline in Antarctic sea ice. Projections of warming temperatures and declining sea ice suggest the population of the majestic emperor penguin could be halved by the 2080s, the International Union for Conservation of Nature announced on April 9.
Satellite images show that the population declined by about 10% from 2009 to 2018 alone, equivalent to more than 20,000 adult penguins, IUCN said.
“Penguins are already one of the most endangered birds on the planet,” said Martin Harper, CEO of BirdLife International, which coordinated the latest assessment of penguins. “The emperor penguin’s move to endangered status is a clear warning that climate change is accelerating the extinction crisis right before our eyes.”
Emperor penguins “rely on stable Antarctic sea ice for at least nine months of the year to mate, raise chicks, and molt,” the World Wildlife Fund said in a news release. Since 2016, sea ice levels have decreased dramatically, and by 2022 four out of five known breeding sites in the Bellingshausen Sea have collapsed, leaving thousands of chicks to freeze to death or drown, the Wildlife Foundation said.
In February 2026, winter sea ice in Antarctica reached an annual low of about 996,000 square miles, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center and NASA. Coverage was significantly higher than the previous four summers, but still 100,000 square miles below the 1981-2010 average.
Emperor penguins are considered endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service starting in 2022 due to declining sea ice.
“For years, these beloved penguins have been losing the sea ice they need to survive,” said Diane Dubois, a senior scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity, which led to the federal government’s listing of emperor penguins. “It would be a tragedy if the iconic emperor penguin became extinct because we failed to acknowledge the reality of climate disruption and do everything we could to stop it,” Dubois added.
Similar conditions in Antarctica have led to a decline in fur seal food, with the seal population declining by 50% over the past 25 years, IUCN said.
Dinah Boyles Pulver covers climate change, wildlife and the environment for USA TODAY. Contact dpulver@usatoday.com or @dinahvp on Bluesky or dinahvp.77 on X or Signal.
