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Extreme Snowstorms Cause Widespread Breeding Failure for Antarctic Seabirds

Extraordinary snowstorms linked to climate change resulted in a near-total breeding collapse for key Antarctic bird species in 2021-22.

By Medha deb

Created on Sep 26, 2025

Extraordinary snowstorms linked to climate change resulted in a near-total breeding collapse for key Antarctic bird species in 2021-22.

In an unprecedented event during the austral summer of 2021–2022, the world witnessed a near-complete breeding failure among key Antarctic seabirds due to a series of severe and prolonged snowstorms. These events, triggered and intensified by climate change, swept across vast regions of the continent, preventing tens of thousands of birds from nesting, laying eggs, or raising chicks. The consequences ripple far beyond a single lost season, highlighting both the vulnerability and resilience of Antarctic ecosystems to rapidly intensifying environmental pressures.

Understanding the Extraordinary Antarctic Event

Every Southern Hemisphere summer, typically spanning November to March, Antarctic petrels, snow petrels, and south polar skuas gather in massive numbers to breed on exposed, snow-free ground. This annual cycle has persisted for centuries, supporting vast colonies critical to the ecosystem. However, the 2021–2022 season shattered the norm. From December 2021 to January 2022, researchers monitoring two of the most important bird breeding grounds—Svarthamaren and Jutulsessen in Dronning Maud Land—discovered an unparalleled collapse:

Not a single south polar skua nest was found at Svarthamaren, a site that previously hosted over 100 annually.
Only three Antarctic petrel nests remained from the 20,000–200,000 recorded in typical years.
Snow petrel nests, usually around 2,000, dropped to barely a handful.
Jutulsessen, with tens of thousands of active petrel nests in previous years, saw none during the breeding season.

This was not an isolated anomaly; it was a region-wide collapse extending hundreds of kilometers across colonies vital for these birds’ survival.

The Antarctic Birds Impacted

Three species were most affected by the snowstorm-driven breeding failure:

Antarctic Petrel (Thalassoica antarctica)
Snow Petrel (Pagodroma nivea)
South Polar Skua (Stercorarius maccormicki)

Each relies on exposed, stable ground to nest and lay eggs—an environment made inaccessible by the year’s unrelenting snowstorms.

Why Didn’t They Breed?

The breeding behavior of these Antarctic seabirds depends on finding patches of bare rock, typically revealed by warm summer temperatures melting accumulated winter snow. In the 2021–2022 season, however, researchers observed that:

Continuous, intense snowstorms buried potential nesting sites under meters of snow.
Egg-laying was impossible because birds could not access the ground.
The energy costs of sheltering from extreme weather overwhelmed breeding efforts, forcing birds to focus on survival rather than reproduction.

Sébastien Descamps, a leading researcher from the Norwegian Polar Institute, emphasized the extraordinary nature of the event: “We know that in a seabird colony, when there’s a storm, you will lose some chicks and eggs, and breeding success will be lower. But here we’re talking about tens if not hundreds of thousands of birds, and none of them reproduced throughout these storms. Having zero breeding success is really unexpected.”

The Broader Role of Climate Change

Extreme weather events, while not new to Antarctica, are escalating in frequency and intensity due to global warming. In previous decades, most of Antarctica—except for the peninsula—had not shown the obvious symptoms of climate warming seen elsewhere. However, recent years have brought new studies and dramatic extreme weather, pushing scientists to reconsider how vulnerable the continent truly is.

In 2021–2022, the snow accumulation was much higher than normal. Climate models had already predicted that as the polar atmosphere warms:

Increased temperatures fuel greater snowfall and more intense storm systems.
Storms are now more severe and frequent, compounding the difficulty seabirds face when raising chicks in exposed, harsh environments.

This convergence of climate impacts has turned what used to be rare breeding failures into potentially recurring, catastrophic events.

Effects Across Multiple Colonies

The breeding collapse was not restricted to a single site. Both Svarthamaren and Jutulsessen—two of the largest bird colonies in Antarctica—were simultaneously affected. The scale is significant:

Svarthamaren typically hosts between 20,000 and 200,000 Antarctic petrel nests; this dropped to just three active nests.
Jutulsessen went from tens of thousands of petrel nests in former seasons to none.
Snow petrels and south polar skuas experienced similarly dramatic declines.

This parallels recent catastrophic breeding failures observed in emperor penguins due to sea ice loss in other Antarctic regions, showing the interconnectedness of extreme events and their ripple effects across the ecosystem.

How Do Snowstorms Impact Seabirds?

The physiologic and ecological challenges for Antarctic birds during these snowstorms include:

Loss of nesting habitat: Deep snow buries the bare ground required for egg-laying.
Reduced thermoregulation: Even when birds shelter together, extreme cold and wind force them to expend energy simply to survive.
Reproductive stress: The need to conserve energy in extreme weather outweighs the capacity to invest in mating and nesting.
Food scarcity: Storm conditions may disrupt access to feeding areas, compounding reproductive challenges.

For skuas, the situation was even direr—as they prey on the eggs and chicks of other seabirds, the absence of breeding activity among petrels and snow petrels removed their primary food source for the season, further contributing to a complete lack of reproduction.

What Does This Mean for Antarctic Birds’ Future?

The long-term outlook depends on how often such breeding failures will occur. Most Antarctic seabirds are relatively long-lived, with lifespans between 15 and 25 years, providing multiple chances to breed successfully during their adult lives. Ornithologists note:

Single-year breeding failure, surprising as it is, may not immediately decimate bird populations.
If massive, repeated failures become the new normal, colonies could rapidly decline, risking local or even global extinction for the most vulnerable species.
Continuous monitoring is critical to determine trends and formulate effective conservation responses.

As Dr. Heather J. Lynch, conservation biologist at Stony Brook University, explains: “It’s possible that the long-term impacts of this particular event, though startling to witness, may be muted… It will take many years and further monitoring to know for sure.”

Connecting the Dots: Extreme Events and Antarctic Ecosystems

This event is not isolated. Other examples of sudden, climate-driven breeding collapse include:

Emperor penguin colonies have experienced catastrophic breeding failure in years of sudden sea ice loss, suggesting that entire regional populations can be affected in tandem by extreme environmental change.
Other seabird colonies globally are showing signs of similar vulnerability where habitat stability is increasingly undermined by weather extremes.

Comparison Table: Responses to Extreme Weather Across Species

Species	Typical Breeding Response	2021–22 Event Impact
Antarctic Petrel	Colonial nesting on exposed rock, flexible dispersal	Colony collapse, ~0 breeding in main colonies
Snow Petrel	Nests in snow-free crevices, high site fidelity	Breeding almost entirely halted
South Polar Skua	Breeding near petrel colonies, flexible diet	No reproduction due to lack of prey
Emperor Penguin	Nests on sea ice, moves colony if ice fails	Regional breeding collapse during sea ice loss

Implications for Climate Science and Conservation

The 2021–22 Antarctic breeding collapse serves as a dramatic case study in how climate change–driven weather extremes can abruptly impact entire animal populations, with consequences for global biodiversity. These phenomena are expected to increase in frequency as projected by most global climate models.

Conservationists argue for increased monitoring and better predictive models that incorporate both temperature and snow accumulation trends.
Understanding and documenting cascading ecosystem failures informs adaptive management and global climate policy.
Long-term ecosystem health depends on the ability of species and habitats to recover after such large-scale collapses.

Ongoing Monitoring and Future Research Needs

Researchers like Sebastien Descamps and others are calling for enhanced data collection to better anticipate and respond to future disasters. Key areas include:

Improved on-site measurement of snow accumulation and wind patterns across multiple locations in Antarctica.
Building and refining ecological models to simulate storm severity and predict colony vulnerabilities.
Integrated satellite and ground-based monitoring to detect sudden changes in breeding activity, population structure, and migration behaviors.

Such efforts are essential to track early warning signs and provide the basis for science-driven conservation actions in one of the world’s most fragile environments.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q: Which Antarctic bird species were most affected by the 2021–22 snowstorms?

A: The major species affected were the Antarctic petrel, snow petrel, and south polar skua. All experienced dramatic reductions in nesting and breeding during the extreme weather event.

Q: Why did so many birds fail to breed during these storms?

A: Deep and persistent snow accumulation buried traditional nesting grounds, making it impossible for birds to lay eggs or raise chicks. Additionally, birds needed all available energy to shelter and keep warm rather than reproduce.

Q: Can seabird populations recover after such a catastrophic breeding failure?

A: Since these species are long-lived and typically have multiple breeding chances over their lifetime, populations may recover if such events do not become frequent. Ongoing monitoring is needed to determine the long-term impact.

Q: Is climate change directly responsible for these storms?

A: Human-driven climate change is likely making extreme weather, including intense snowstorms, more common and severe in Antarctica. Model projections support increased storm activity as polar regions warm.

Q: What can be done to protect Antarctic seabirds from future climate-driven events?

A: Enhanced monitoring, improved climate models focusing on snow and wind trends, and adaptive conservation strategies are essential. Actions to curb global greenhouse gas emissions are also critical for the long-term survival of Antarctic wildlife.

References

Author

medha deb

Medha Deb is an editor with a master's degree in Applied Linguistics from the University of Hyderabad. She believes that her qualification has helped her develop a deep understanding of language and its application in various contexts.

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