Emperor penguins at risk of extinction due to climate change

(CNN) - The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service took an important step in protecting Antarctica’s emperor penguins, who are increasingly threatened by the climate crisis.

The tallest and heaviest of penguins were officially placed under the safekeeping of the Endangered Species Act last Tuesday.

With global warming melting the ice that the flightless birds count on for their survival, the species is now categorized as threatened.

The journal Global Change Biology reports that the emperor penguin population could all but disappear by 2100. That’s if greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase at their current rates, melting Antarctic sea ice.

Endangered species classification could help the emperor penguin population, just as it helped stabilize the population of polar bears.