“#EmperorPenguins are a sentinel species that tell us about our changing world & how well we are controlling #GreenhouseGas #emissions,” Philip Trathan, a member of the IUCN specialist group that determined the species’ #conservation status, said in a statement Thursday.

#climate #environment #GlobalWarming #EndangeredSpecies #wildlife #MarineLife #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #law #EnvironmentalLaw #science

A dramatic collapse of the #AntarcticFurSeal population likewise prompted the #IUCN to change the species’s status from “least concern” to “#endangered.” The organization said that rising #ocean temperatures have pushed the seals’ main prey — krill — to greater ocean depths, making it harder for the seals to find food.​

Between 1999 & 2025, the IUCN said, the number of Antarctic fur seals dropped by more than 50%

#GlobalWarming #wildlife #MarineLife #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #law

Grethel Aguilar, the #IUCN director general, called the declines of both species “a wake-up call on the realities of #ClimateChange.”

Though most humans will never see #Antarctica, the frozen continent’s #environment & #ecosystems are vital to the entire planet. Its #SeaIce reflects some of the sun’s energy back into space, keeping the #Earth cool. Its cold, dense, nutrient-rich waters drive the global #ocean circulation system & support some of the world’s most important fisheries.

#climate

If #EmperorPenguins & #AntarcticFurSeals are suffering, Aguilar said, it means that humans should be worried too.

#climate #environment #GlobalWarming #EndangeredSpecies #wildlife #MarineLife #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #law #EnvironmentalLaw #science