Emissions threat to penguin population

Climate change is likely to have a devastating impact on king penguins if greenhouse gas emissions continue at their present rate, scientists have warned.

Seventy per cent of the birds – around 1.1 million breeding pairs – may disappear or be forced to find new homes before the end of the century.

Just under half of the world’s population, breeding on the Crozet and Prince Edward islands in thesouthernindianocean, were expected to lose their habitat completely. Those from the Kerguelen, Falkland and Tierra del Fuego islands, making up a fifth of the total, were likely to experience strongly altered habitats.

King penguins can only shift their recognised breeding grounds in a stepping-stone manner, hopping between available islands.

Lead researcher Robin Cristofari, from the Hubert Curien Multidisciplinary Institute in Strasbourg, France said: “The main issue is there is only a handful of islands in the Southern Ocean and not all of them are suitable to sustain large breeding colonies.”

The scientists, whose findings appear in the journal Nature Climate Change, simulated the penguins’ past habitat shifts and identified future vulnerable areas.