While the Arctic has polar bears, the iconic animal on Antartica is the emperor penguin. Now both species face the risk of extinction by the end of the century. 

The world's tallest penguin might die out by 2100 if global warming continues at its current pace, according to a new study released Tuesday in the journal Global Change Biology. 

Emperor penguins live exclusively on sea fast ice, ice that is connected to land, and that makes the impact of global warming on the species' survival devastating.

These resilient birds might have evolved to adapt to some of the world's harshest conditions around the South Pole, but they are becoming increasingly vulnerable in the face of global warming.

For three consecutive years, 2016, 2017 and 2018, breeding failures were recorded in the world's second largest emperor penguin colony.

"In 2016, after a period of abnormally stormy weather, the sea-ice broke up in October, well before any emperor chicks would have fledged. This pattern was repeated in 2017 and again in 2018 and led to the death of almost all the chicks at the site each season," said a report published in the journal Antarctic Science in 2019. 

The new study found that if sea ice continues to decline at the rates projected by climate models, there would be a gradual decrease in emperor penguin populations until about 2040, and after that, the populations of the aquatic birds would reduce dramatically, until becoming quasi-extinct by the end of the century, a status rendering a species doomed even with some members remaining live. 

The "tuxedoed" penguin is a vital part of the food chain in Antarctica, preying on krill, squid and small fish while providing a source of food for leopard seals and killer whales.

Scientists authoring the new study called for action to mitigate climate change, stressing the urgency of legal recognition and precautionary management for the species.

(All photos by Yuan Shuai)

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