Emperor penguin could be listed as endangered species
Climate change threatens emperor penguins with extinction
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed
to list the birds as a threatened species
Emperor penguins breed on sea ice
and are vulnerable to melting ice caused by rising temperatures
There are approximately 61 breeding colonies along the coastline of Antarctica
with around 280,000 breeding pairs
The population is likely to plummet up to 47% by 2050
Source: Fish and Wildlife Service's news release