Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Polar Bears: How is climate change affecting the survival of their species?

Right now, the Arctic is experiencing the warmest air temperature in four centuries.  As it stands, there is a rapid shrinking of sea-ice, which scientists predict will result in a “mostly ice-free Arctic summer by 2040 if the present trends continue." Due to human activity, huge amounts of carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases are continuing to be omitted into the atmosphere at alarming rates which leads scientists to believe that the Arctic will only continue to warm.


This might as well be a death sentence to polar bears all across the Arctic.  Polar bears rely on the sea ice for activities such as hunting, breeding and residing in dens.   A number of polar bears drown every year in attempts to swim to reach the pack ice.  There’s just too much open water to ensure their survival.  As an already endangered species, scientists are estimating that if current forecasts are correct about the future extent of sea ice, then 2/3 of the polar bear population will become extinct by 2050.

So what can we do about it?  Scientists believe that we still have time to save polar bears if we significantly reduce greenhouse emissions within the next few years.  However, it will take 30-40 years for changes in reversing the warming trend to show, and by then it may be too late for the polar bears.


I don’t know about the rest of the world, but personally, if another species was responsible for the demise of the human race, I would want them to do everything in their power to help us out.  We are exploiting most of the world’s resources as it is, so we should make the survival of other creatures a priority.  Especially one as majestic (and adorable) as the polar bear.

Resources

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/are-polar-bears-endangered.html
http://jasonschaeffer.wordpress.com/category/green/

3 comments:

  1. Cute pics!It's so sad what's happening to the polar bears :(

    ReplyDelete
  2. in the 1st picture, that polar bear has great balance
    these bears will survive... through evolution

    ReplyDelete
  3. its so sad that i might cry :(

    ReplyDelete