Increasing global warming and food limitation have thrown sea lions of California into chaos. During the last more than four decades, the animal’s population has dropped dramatically. Last year, thousands of sea lion pups stranded along Southern California's coast, flooding rescue centers in the state.

A new study published in the journal Royal Society Open Science has linked young pups’ chaotic conditions to mother sea lions not getting enough food. Lack of nutrition is behind pups washing ashore, as per the study published Wednesday.

The study also predicted that it is a serious situation for the animal, which is not going to reverse itself any time soon. California sea lions have been suffering from last few decades, but today, the situation has worsened for sea lions.

In the first half of 2015, more than 3,000 young California sea lion were found washed ashore. They were either emaciated, or starving, as per researchers. By the end of 2015, more than 4,200 stranded California sea lions were reported. The surge was the worst in last four decades, reported the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito near San Francisco.

The stranded pups have poor health because their mothers are not eating healthy food, as per the study. Today, they eat the oceanic equivalent of ‘junk food’, it added. Fish and squid are main food sources of sea lions, but since last few years, these fish are going through natural environmentally driven fluctuations.

The study didn’t conclude what is the major reason behind the dip in sea lion population, but it suggested that multiple factors could be behind the poor condition of the animal. Warmer waters and fishing impacts could be some of the factors, as per the study.