Global warming, caused by the build up of man-made carbon dioxide, is causing Arctic sea ice to melt at an alarming rate Over the past three decades, over a million square miles of sea ice -- an area the size of Norway, Denmark and Sweden combined -- has disappeared. This trend could prove catastrophic for the polar bear. Without protection, the polar bear could become the first mammal to lose 100 percent of its habitat to global warming.
The polar bear is considered a marine mammal -- like walruses, seals and whales -- because its main habitat is sea ice. They need that ice as a platform for hunting, for travel to denning areas to give birth, and for mating. As their sea ice melts and their food sources decline, polar bears are forced to swim further and further to ever-distant ice floes. During these extremely arduous swims, polar bears are increasingly drowning. And scientists predict that as the movement of sea ice increases, some bears will lose contact with a main body of ice and drift into unsuitable habitat, making it impossible to return.
The polar bear is considered a marine mammal -- like walruses, seals and whales -- because its main habitat is sea ice. They need that ice as a platform for hunting, for travel to denning areas to give birth, and for mating. As their sea ice melts and their food sources decline, polar bears are forced to swim further and further to ever-distant ice floes. During these extremely arduous swims, polar bears are increasingly drowning. And scientists predict that as the movement of sea ice increases, some bears will lose contact with a main body of ice and drift into unsuitable habitat, making it impossible to return.
As temperatures increase, scientists also expect that more rain will fall during the Arctic's late winter and spring. Unseasonable rains have already caused the snowy dens that shelter polar bear mothers and their newborn cubs to collapse, killing all the bears inside. What’s more, as a result of the decrease in sea ice, polar bear females may not gain enough weight to reproduce cubs with enough insulating fat, jeopardizing their ability to survive.
In the spring of 2006, three adult female polar bears and one yearling were found dead. Two of these females had no fat stores and apparently starved to death. Even worse, scientists project that by 2012 -- just five years from now -- most female polar bears in Western Hudson Bay may not be able to reach the minimum 417 pounds of body mass needed to successfully reproduce. Some polar bears have even been recorded cannibalizing other bears, including a female polar bear in her maternal den. This extreme behavior has never been observed in decades of polar bear study.
The Bush Administration's proposal to list the polar bear as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act is a crucial first step toward ensuring a future for these magnificent Arctic creatures. Yet the administration's proposal does not designate "critical habitat" for protection, even though melting habitat from global warming is the main threat to the polar bears survival.
Please help take action today by clicking on this link to the NRDC. Fill out the info so you can send a letter to the Bush administration telling them to protect polar bears and their critical habitat. Their goal is 500,000 letters. They are about 3/4 of the way there. Please do your part and please help spread the word.
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