Climate change is at it again and this time it’s affecting penguin populations in Antarctica.

Warmer sea waters are to blame for the possible rapid decline of the Adélie penguins. The penguin usually prefers rocky, ice-free areas to live and breed so warmer climates in the past have proven advantageous for them. However, it is now thought that the warmer temperatures have reached a tipping point which is estimated to cause the penguin population to plummet down by 60 percent by the end of this century, according to a report in The Washington Post.

Lead author of the study, Megan Cimino at the University of Delaware stated, “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.”

It is thought the areas in Antarctica that are most affected by climate change will lower the quality and availability of nesting areas and food supplies for the penguins. The melting ice could cause more wet weather which is bad news for the Adélie penguin who rely on the dry rocks for protection for their young.

“For penguins who lay their eggs on the ground,” Cimino says, “rain and puddles are bad because eggs can’t survive when they’re lying in a pool of water. Chicks that don’t have waterproof feathers can become wet and die from hypothermia.”

The team of researchers used various data to create a model that predicts the outcome of progressive climate change including satellite images of the penguins main breeding locations and where these will move to over time. The results don’t look good for the Adélie penguin.

The study is detailed in Nature’s journal Scientific Reports.