The rising temperature has maximum toll on sea-ice covers that penguins largely use for travelling and hunting. If the global temperature rises at the current rate then it is believed that the emperor penguins population will be cut down by a fifth by the end of the century as a result of changing climates.

A new study published in Climate Change Today on Sunday stated that two out of every three penguin colonies on the continent of Antarctica could be reduced by half by 2100. This would mean a 78% population decline overall.

This huge decline in the population will be due to drastic changes in the feeding and mating patterns of the penguins.

Further, the study stated that currently about 600,000 emperor penguins living in Antarctica and this number will face a 19% to 33% cut down and this would mean that emperor penguins will become an endangered species. A decreased number would mean restrictions on tourism, fishing and other activities in the area.

Stephanie Janouvrier, a biologist with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the study's lead author had analyzed data on penguins at 45 sites in Antarctica and concluded that none of these studied sites will still be hospitable to penguins by century's end.

Such a study in a way is a wakeup call for the governments to list the birds as endangered, even though populations in 45 known colonies were likely to rise slightly by 2050 before declining. But still doing so now only would impose restrictions on tourism and fishing companies.