Recent news about polar bears being added to the endangered species list is heartbreaking but not surprising. Polar bears are the first species to be added to the endangered species list due to global warming. This has been coming ever since we have seen a decline in the amounts of large ice, which is ruining the species’ habitats due to the arctic’s weather warming up (global warming). Polar bears are dependent upon ice for hunting, resting, and breeding. Without these essential elements of life the polar bear cannot continue to prosper like they used to.
One of the major handicaps it puts on the species is being unable to hunt. Polar bears hunt seals by staking out by their breathing holes. If there is not floating ice the polar bear cannot hunt and get food. It is only very rarely that a polar bear will hunt for food in water. However, the polar bears have to resort to this because there is no ice for them to hunt on. Polar bears rely on sea ice for their sustenance and without it they cannot continue to live how they have lived forever.
(Photo: http://minnesotansforglobalwarming.com/m4gw/2009/06/22/polar-bears_1425387c.jpg)
Although polar bears are great swimmers, they need floating ice to rest on occasionally. One problem that this species is running into is, when they leave an ice floe they will eventually need another one to rest on, and when they cannot find one, they drown. According to new research four polar bear carcasses were found floating in a one month period in a sea off of the north coast of Alaska (1). Also in a recent aerial survey nine polar bears were found swimming in far off water by Alaska. Some were as far as 60 miles from the coast with a likely chance of making it to an ice floe or some other object to rest on (2).
The polar bear’s body is specially designed so that it keeps in as much heat as possible. It has two layers of fur therefore it can withstand temperatures as cold as fifty below zero. Parts of the bear such as its ears and tails are designed to prevent heat from escaping. The polar bear is matched perfectly for the arctic weather and if it starts to warm up, the polar bears could possibly overheat.
The secretary of Interior Ken Salazar is upholding the Bush rule that limits the action that can be taken to protect polar bears. The reason the polar bear was added to the list is because its habitat is rapidly vanishing. If scientist’s predictions are right polar bears could be extinct by 2050 (3). To save the Polar Bear we do not need to fight the Administration, we need to fight climate change.
(Photo: http://www.pitara.com/discover/earth/online.asp?story=140)
See following links for more information:
(3) http://www.defenders.org/wildlife_and_habitat/wildlife/polar_bear.php
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