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.
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 Atlantic.
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.
Not exact matches
Rising temperatures have reduced the area's
sea ice cover, which serves as an important
habitat not just
for Adelie penguins but also
for krill.
Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, however, made clear several times during a press conference announcing the department's decision that, despite his acknowledgement that the polar bear's
sea ice habitat is melting due to global warming, the ESA will not be used as a tool
for trying to regulate the greenhouse gas emissions blamed
for creating climate change.
The decision was based on evidence that
sea ice is vital
for polar bear survival, that this
sea ice habitat has been reduced, and that this process is likely to continue; if something is not done to change this situation, the polar bear will be extinct within 45 years, Kempthorne said.
IT WILL be little consolation to hungry polar bears in northern Manitoba, Canada, who have had to wait weeks longer than usual
for sea ice to form on Hudson Bay, but their
habitat is not irreversibly doomed.
«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 sa
Ice - free areas make
for small patches of suitable
habitat for plants and animals — like islands in a
sea of
ice,» she sa
ice,» 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.
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.
Sea ice also provides crucial coastal protection in the Arctic, hunting grounds
for local tribes, and
habitats for creatures from polar bears to seals.
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.
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.
...
Sea ice, especially during the sunlit seasons, serves as
habitat for an
ice - specific food web (sympagic foodweb)[1] that includes bacteria, viruses, unicellular algae, which often form chains and filaments, and invertebrates sufficiently small to traverse the brine network.
Because polar bears are entirely dependent upon the
sea ice for their survival, any observed and projected reductions in preferred
sea ice habitats can only result in declines.
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..
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.
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.
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.»
After all, the computer models used to predict a dire future
for polar bears combined the Chukchi
Sea with the Southern Beaufort, as having similar
ice habitats («
ice ecoregions»).
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.
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.
This is devastating news
for polar bears, who are suffering as their
sea -
ice habitat melts from under their paws.
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.
To make the case bearded seals were threatened, the BRT argued
sea ice is a critical
habitat required
for birthing, nursing, molting and
for resting while over prime foraging
habitat.
The eastern Barents
Sea (located in Russian territory), as defined by the Polar Bear Specialist Group (see map below), provides ample habitat for polar bears to thrive despite extended fluctuations in seasonal sea ice cover in the western porti
Sea (located in Russian territory), as defined by the Polar Bear Specialist Group (see map below), provides ample
habitat for polar bears to thrive despite extended fluctuations in seasonal
sea ice cover in the western porti
sea ice cover in the western portion.
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 ti
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 ti
sea ice cover in the western portion essentially disappears
for thousands of years at a time.
In contrast,
sea ice is also an important
habitat for juvenile Antarctic krill, providing food and protection from predators.
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.
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.
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
The multiyear
sea ice provides unique
habitat for ice - associated phytoplankton, zooplankton, small invertebrates, and a few species of fish, as well as resting, breeding, and hunting platforms
for marine mammals of several species [262].
Unless Greenland and the West Antarctic
Ice Shelf collapse very quickly, we'll run out of
habitat for humans long before
seas rise sufficiently to remove
habitat.
Such information is important
for an assessment of how polar bears will be able to cope with the predicted changes of their main
habitat: the Arctic
sea ice.
Indeed, working with predictions
for future temperature increases and glacier melt rates generated by ten separate global climate models — all of which are also used by the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change - the team have concluded that these smaller
ice sources will contribute around 12 centimetres to world
sea - level increases over the remainder of the century, with this likely to have catastrophic consequences
for numerous natural
habitats as well as
for hundreds of thousands of people.