When an El Nino hits, the lives of penguins are in peril. During the 1997 El Nino the penguin population fell by a third. During Climate Change a difference in temperature of at least one degree can be a life and death situation for penguins. Researchers followed a group of about 15 breeding penguins from 1992 to 2010 on the Crozet Islands. They found that during the summer penguins swim out to find food in the Antarctic polar front. With the waters rise in temperature it can change the front by at least 90 miles. Which makes it very difficult for the penguins to find food to feed the group. When this happens, there is also a fall in breeding populations.
Scientists predict that about 50% of the penguin population may disappear by the year 2100 due to climate change.