Sentences with phrase «of sea ice habitat»

The most significant threats to arctic marine mammals comprise loss of sea ice habitat and its associated highly productive food web along with the increase in anthropogenic activities at high latitudes (Ragen et al. 2008).

Shaye Wolf, climate science director for the Center for Biological Diversity, the conservation group that launched legal action to get Pacific walruses listed in 2008, told Earther that the agency's claim that walruses will adapt to climate change «is baseless, and simply doesn't match the science showing that walruses are being harmed by the devastating loss of their sea ice habitat.»

These magnificent animals are facing unprecedented threats as a warming climate and loss of their sea ice habitat make it more difficult for the bears to hunt prey like seals and find dens for their cubs.

Amstrup adds, «It fills a gap in our otherwise extensive knowledge of polar bear ecology and corroborates previous findings that the key to polar bear conservation is arresting the decline of their sea ice habitat.»

Not exact matches

That corresponds to a roughly 3 1/2 week shift at either end — and seven weeks of total loss of good sea ice habitat for polar bears — over the 35 years of Arctic sea ice data.

The Interior Department lists the polar bear as a «threatened» species — one at risk of becoming endangered — due to dangerous declines in their sea ice habitat

Six groups of seals threatened by shrinking sea ice are gaining protections, as their habitats are forecast to shrink significantly due to global warming

An international «Red List» of threatened species says that the polar bear is vulnerable to extinction because of a projected decline in its habitat linked to climate change that is melting sea ice in the Arctic.

But with climate change, the WAP is experiencing rapid regional warming, with fewer days each year of fast ice — letting the icebergs into the shallows more often, where they carve huge gashes through the habitat of the colorful, tentacled invertebrate animals carpeting the sea floor.

The rule in question was finalized by the Bush administration in December, six months after the polar bear was declared a threatened species due to the melting of its sea - ice habitat.

The U.S. Department of the Interior Wednesday listed the polar bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973 based on evidence that the animal's sea ice habitat is shrinking and is likely to continue to do so over the next several decades.

Their habitat and food supply are shifting as a result of warmer waters and shrinking sea ice.

In response, the U.S. Geological Survey began a study on changing Arctic ecosystems to better understand the consequences of lost permafrost and sea ice habitats, and the Interior Department established a Climate Science Center at the University of Alaska to specifically address Arctic issues.

Documented declines in sea ice and anticipation of massive melting that threatens the bears» habitat prompted the action.

But there are many unknowns about the current status of 11 species of marine mammals who depend on Arctic sea ice to live, feed and breed, and about how their fragile habitat will evolve in a warming world.

In the case of Arctic whales, the changes in sea ice might benefit their populations, at least in the short term: the loss and earlier retreat of sea ice opens up new habitats and, in some areas of the Arctic, has also led to an increase in food production and the length of their feeding season.

«NASA backed us on research related to the biodiversity and ecology of Arctic marine mammals, as well as the development of metrics for the loss of sea ice, their habitat.»

Sea ice is a crucial part of the ecosystems at both poles, providing habitat and influencing food availability for penguins, polar bears and other native species.

«Ice - free areas make for small patches of suitable habitat for plants and animals — like islands in a sea of ice,» she saIce - free areas make for small patches of suitable habitat for plants and animals — like islands in a sea of ice,» she saice,» she said.

«We have documented loss of sea ice and reductions of habitat for Arctic marine mammals across most of the circumpolar Arctic, so this area is not unique,» said co-author Kristin Laidre, a UW associate professor in the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences and the Polar Science Center.

Recruitment is related to the winter sea ice cover from the previous year, as diminished sea ice cover reduces habitat available for over-wintering juvenile and adult krill and reduces the size of the food - rich marginal sea ice zone in summer.

Even if you ignore all the temperature meauserments which you seem to vehimently deny there is still many other sources of evidence associated with this increase such as — ice melt / extreme weather events / sea current changes / habitat changes / CO2 / ice cores / sediment cores.

In the autumn adult krill migrate from offshore and continental shelf areas to inshore habitats where they remain through winter under the protective cover of sea ice [4].

Polar species, including the polar bear, ice - dependent seals, and emperor penguins are especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change as their unique sea ice habitats shrink due to warming.

The Arctic Ocean's sea ice and waters are habitat for many imperiled species, from polar bears to bowhead whales — and they all face the threat of dirty fossil - fuel development.

It is pushing for new oil and gas drilling in polar bear habitat while biologists for Interior Department, prodded by legal action, recommended the bear be given threatened status under the species act because of the warming of the Arctic and summer retreat of sea ice.

Extent, for once, is crucial in determining the amount of absorbed solar radiation, the area of polar bear (and other animals») habitat, the amount of snow that falls onto sea ice, etc..

The key danger to polar bears is malnutrition or starvation due to habitat loss: Polar bears hunt seals from a platform of sea ice.

Sea ice is critical for polar marine ecosystems in at least two important ways: (1) it provides a habitat for photosynthetic algae and nursery ground for invertebrates and fish during times when the water column does not support phytoplankton growth; and (2) as the ice melts, releasing organisms into the surface water [3], a shallow mixed layer forms which fosters large ice - edge blooms important to the overall productivity of polar seas.

But just as the species has been recovering from that threat, global warming is creating new pressures through the loss of summer sea ice and other impacts on the bears» preferred maritime habitat.

And in fact, the bottom of the sea ice is habitat for more organisms than you might think, and maybe more than anyone yet knows.

Polar bears have optimal habitat requirements with respect to food supply (seals) and this food supply hinges critically on the seasonal extent of sea ice.

The average historic summer minimum (the yellow line in Fig. 1) indicates large portions of the Chukchi Sea's foraging habitat have been covered with summer ice concentrations of 50 % and greater for much of the 20th century.

Because walrus avoid ice - covered waters where sea ice concentration is 80 % or greater, any heavy ice concentrations reduce the areal extent of walrus foraging habitat.

A new paper that combines paleoclimatology data for the last 56 million years with molecular genetic evidence concludes there were no biological extinctions [of Arctic marine animals] over the last 1.5 M years despite profound Arctic sea ice changes that included ice - free summers: polar bears, seals, walrus and other species successfully adapted to habitat changes that exceeded those predicted by USGS and US Fish and Wildlife polar bear biologists over the next 100 years.

In a belated Christmas present, Crockford provided this December 26 posting that further deflates the already collapsing narrative about the non-existent «crisis» of declining arctic sea ice: «Polar bear habitat — more Arctic sea ice in Canada this week than in early 1970s.»

Comments Off on Polar bears barely survived the sea ice habitat changes of the last Ice Age, evidence suggeice habitat changes of the last Ice Age, evidence suggeIce Age, evidence suggests

Today, I'll take a look at sea ice and ringed seal habitat in the Gulf of Boothia and M'Clintock Channel, as well as information from a study on polar bear diets, which together shine some light on why the Gulf of Boothia is such a great place for polar bears.

Tagged Barber and Iacozza, bearded seal, beluga whales, Gulf of Boothia, local Inuit knowledge, M'Clintock Channel, multiyear ice, narwhal, polar bear population density, ringed seal, sea ice habitat, Thiemann

Much of the Bearded Seal's habitat encompasses seasonal ice zones where first - year sea ice is renewed every winter but melts completely every summer.

Nonetheless, Overland used a select group of 6 IPCC models to convince the courts rising CO2 concentrations threatened to destroy and modify the seals» sea ice habitat.

In habitat where sea ice either melts completely or recedes beyond the limits of shallow - water feeding grounds, bearded seals simply come ashore.

Franz Josef Land provides the most stable sea ice habitat for Barents Sea polar bears because it is largely beyond the influence of warm water influxes from the North Atlantsea ice habitat for Barents Sea polar bears because it is largely beyond the influence of warm water influxes from the North AtlantSea polar bears because it is largely beyond the influence of warm water influxes from the North Atlantic.

King penguins have adapted to a precise habitat range: they favour a scatter of islands in the Southern Ocean, away from the sea ice but close to an oceanic upwelling called the Antarctic Polar Front, which concentrates colossal quantities of fish into a small area.

Bottom line: Barents Sea polar bears are loyal to this region because the eastern portion has the habitat they require to thrive even when sea ice cover in the western portion essentially disappears for thousands of years at a tiSea polar bears are loyal to this region because the eastern portion has the habitat they require to thrive even when sea ice cover in the western portion essentially disappears for thousands of years at a tisea ice cover in the western portion essentially disappears for thousands of years at a time.

Abstract Increased land use by polar bears (Ursus maritimus) due to climate - change - induced reduction of their sea - ice habitat illustrates the impact of climate change on species distributions and the difficulty of conserving a large, highly specialized carnivore in the face of this global threat.

The loss of sea ice changes ecosystems, opening the door to invasive species, and alters habitat and plankton blooms, affecting Alaska's commercial fishing industry, which leads the United States in the value of its catch.

Sea ice habitat for polar bears has not become progressively worse each year during their season of critical feeding and mating, as some scaremongers often imply.

For example, reductions in seasonal sea ice cover and higher surface temperatures may open up new habitat in polar regions for some important fish species, such as cod, herring, and pollock.128 However, continued presence of cold bottom - water temperatures on the Alaskan continental shelf could limit northward migration into the northern Bering Sea and Chukchi Sea off northwestern Alaska.129, 130 In addition, warming may cause reductions in the abundance of some species, such as pollock, in their current ranges in the Bering Sea131and reduce the health of juvenile sockeye salmon, potentially resulting in decreased overwinter survival.132 If ocean warming continues, it is unlikely that current fishing pressure on pollock can be sustained.133 Higher temperatures are also likely to increase the frequency of early Chinook salmon migrations, making management of the fishery by multiple user groups more challenging.sea ice cover and higher surface temperatures may open up new habitat in polar regions for some important fish species, such as cod, herring, and pollock.128 However, continued presence of cold bottom - water temperatures on the Alaskan continental shelf could limit northward migration into the northern Bering Sea and Chukchi Sea off northwestern Alaska.129, 130 In addition, warming may cause reductions in the abundance of some species, such as pollock, in their current ranges in the Bering Sea131and reduce the health of juvenile sockeye salmon, potentially resulting in decreased overwinter survival.132 If ocean warming continues, it is unlikely that current fishing pressure on pollock can be sustained.133 Higher temperatures are also likely to increase the frequency of early Chinook salmon migrations, making management of the fishery by multiple user groups more challenging.Sea and Chukchi Sea off northwestern Alaska.129, 130 In addition, warming may cause reductions in the abundance of some species, such as pollock, in their current ranges in the Bering Sea131and reduce the health of juvenile sockeye salmon, potentially resulting in decreased overwinter survival.132 If ocean warming continues, it is unlikely that current fishing pressure on pollock can be sustained.133 Higher temperatures are also likely to increase the frequency of early Chinook salmon migrations, making management of the fishery by multiple user groups more challenging.Sea off northwestern Alaska.129, 130 In addition, warming may cause reductions in the abundance of some species, such as pollock, in their current ranges in the Bering Sea131and reduce the health of juvenile sockeye salmon, potentially resulting in decreased overwinter survival.132 If ocean warming continues, it is unlikely that current fishing pressure on pollock can be sustained.133 Higher temperatures are also likely to increase the frequency of early Chinook salmon migrations, making management of the fishery by multiple user groups more challenging.Sea131and reduce the health of juvenile sockeye salmon, potentially resulting in decreased overwinter survival.132 If ocean warming continues, it is unlikely that current fishing pressure on pollock can be sustained.133 Higher temperatures are also likely to increase the frequency of early Chinook salmon migrations, making management of the fishery by multiple user groups more challenging.134

To the long list of predicted consequences of global warming — stronger storms, methane release, habitat changes, ice - sheet melting, rising seas, stronger El Niños, killer heat waves — we must now add abrupt, catastrophic coolings.