Beginning in December 2022, the Antarctic sea ice extent matched the 2021 record low. The central and eastern Bellingshausen Sea region west of the Antarctic Peninsula lost 100% sea ice in November 2022.
Lead author of the study, Dr Peter Fretwell, said:
"We have never seen emperor penguins fail to breed, at this scale, in a single season. The loss of sea ice in this region during the Antarctic summer made it very unlikely that displaced chicks would survive.
We know that emperor penguins are highly vulnerable in a warming climate -- and current scientific evidence suggests that extreme sea ice loss events like this will become more frequent and widespread."
Since 2016, Antarctica has had the four lowest sea ice extents in the 45-year satellite record, with 2021/22 and 2022/23 being the lowest. Sea ice loss harmed 30% of Antarctica's 62 emperor penguin populations between 2018 and 2022. Current climate models predict a longer-term loss in sea ice extent, although severe seasons are hard to link to climate change.Under current and future human carbon dioxide emissions, climate models predict Antarctic sea ice declining.
Dr Jeremy Wilkinson, a sea ice physicist at BAS, commented: "This paper dramatically reveals the connection between sea ice loss and ecosystem annihilation. Climate change is melting sea ice at an alarming rate. It is likely to be absent from the Arctic in the 2030s -- and in the Antarctic, the four lowest sea ice extents recorded have been since 2016. It is another warning sign for humanity that we cannot continue down this path, politicians must act to minimize the impact of climate change. There is no time left."
Citation:
British Antarctic Survey. "Loss of Antarctic sea ice causes catastrophic breeding failure for emperor penguins." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 24 August 2023. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/08/230824110830.htm>.
WNCTimes
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