Half of Adélie penguins could be wiped out by global warming

Global warming may cause massive drops in the population of Adélie penguins in Antarctica, new climate data suggests.

The tuxedo-clad birds breed on rocky, ice-free ground, and as glaciers receded over millions of years, Adélie penguins have reclaimed once icebound land for breeding. But the climate may have reached a tipping point, and future warming will likely fuel declines in Adélie colonies, the researchers found.

"It is only in recent decades that we know Adélie penguins population declines are associated with warming, which suggests that many regions of Antarctica have warmed too much and that further warming is no longer positive for the species," study co-author Megan Cimino, a researcher in the college of earth, ocean and the environment at the University of Delaware, said in a statement.

Waning habitat

Unlike emperor penguins, which breed on ice, Adélie penguins live all along the Antarctic peninsula, and breed on rocky patches of ground in the Antarctic summer of October through February. To feed their young (and themselves), they hunt for fish and krill in nearby oceans.

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