The shorter change in season in the Arctic threatens
the survival of polar bears, because shorter frozen seasons means shorter hunting and breeding time for polar bears.
USGS polar bear biologist Karyn Rode and colleagues (press release here) have tried to frame this issue as one about future
survival of polar bears in the face of declining sea ice.
A new study shows that melting ice is threatening
the survival of polar bears by undercutting the base of their food supply.
Let's hope that
the survival of the polar bear doesn't become another hot potato that is tossed into the long grass - after burning one - too many fingers.
It is also a significant place when it comes to global climate change — it is the polar regions of the planet that are experiencing the biggest rises in temperature and changes to the landscape, threatening the very
survival of the polar bear.
Not exact matches
On Thursday, Ruch's watchdog group plans to file a complaint with the agency on Monnett's behalf, asserting that Obama administration officials have «actively persecuted» him in violation
of policy intended to protect scientists from political interference... In May 2008, the U.S. classified the
polar bear as a threatened species, the first with its
survival at risk due to global warming.
In May 2008, the Bush Administration, after multiple lawsuits, put the
polar bear on the endangered species list and acknowledged that the
survival of the species is jeopardized by climate change.
If adaptation for
survival in the Arctic environment has led to a less versatile immune system, then Arctic species such as the
polar bear may be at risk from an influx
of pathogens as global temperatures rise, the researchers warn.
By shedding light on potential mechanisms that facilitated that
bear's
survival during her long swim, as well as the overall metabolism and activity
of bears, the current study «profoundly contributes to understanding the value
of summer habitats used by
polar bears in terms
of their energetics,» Harlow says.
Also, I'm not sure I see strong support for this concluding sentence: «Although
polar bears have persisted through previous warm phases, multiple human - mediated stressors (e.g., habitat conversion, persecution, and accumulation
of toxic substances in the food chain) could magnify the impact
of current climate change, posing a novel and likely profound threat to
polar bear survival.»
The next step is to secure the long - term
survival of the species by ensuring that the
polar bear habitat in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas is protected from the threat
of oil and gas drilling.
The ACIA report described how the retreat
of the sea ice has devastating consequences for
polar bears, whose very
survival may be at stake.
Models created by experts said such a dramatic loss
of sea ice would cause a sharp drop in the
polar bear population and threaten their very
survival.
«The PBSG is the authoritative source for information on the world's
polar bears,» declares the PBSG / IUCN / Species
Survival Commission website, «and one
of IUCN / SSC's more than 100 specialist groups that work to produce and to compile scientific knowledge about the world's species and give independent scientific advice to decision - makers and management authorities.»
Just keep reminding yourself that all the hype has very little to do with the conservation status
of polar bears and virtually everything to do with the
survival of the IUCN PBSG as an organization and the economic future
of polar bear biologists and their ever - growing crop
of students.»
Survival of Barents Sea
polar bears during low - ice years does not require emigration to another sea ice ecoregion or even another subpopulation area.
Where consumption
of terrestrial foods has been documented,
polar bear body condition and
survival rates have declined even as land use has increased.
Of course, Dr Monnett now says that he didn't really mean to argue anything related to global warming, and that the 25 % figure he gives for the survival rate of swimming polar bears (read the article) is just napkin math, not statistic
Of course, Dr Monnett now says that he didn't really mean to argue anything related to global warming, and that the 25 % figure he gives for the
survival rate
of swimming polar bears (read the article) is just napkin math, not statistic
of swimming
polar bears (read the article) is just napkin math, not statistics.
Relative to recent years and potential impacts on
polar bear health and
survival in Canada, there is nothing alarming in the pattern or speed
of sea ice breakup for 2017, either over Hudson Bay, the southern Beaufort, or the eastern high Arctic.
Polar bears are one
of the most sensitive Arctic marine mammals to climate warming because they spend most
of their lives on sea ice.35 Declining sea ice in northern Alaska is associated with smaller
bears, probably because
of less successful hunting
of seals, which are themselves ice - dependent and so are projected to decline with diminishing ice and snow cover.36, 37,38,39 Although
bears can give birth to cubs on sea ice, increasing numbers
of female
bears now come ashore in Alaska in the summer and fall40 and den on land.41 In Hudson Bay, Canada, the most studied population in the Arctic, sea ice is now absent for three weeks longer than just a few decades ago, resulting in less body fat, reduced
survival of both the youngest and oldest
bears, 42 and a population now estimated to be in decline43 and projected to be in jeopardy.44 Similar
polar bear population declines are projected for the Beaufort Sea region.45
Heavy ice conditions in the mid-1970s and mid-1980s caused significant declines in productivity
of ringed seals, each
of which lasted about 3 years and caused similar declines in the natality
of polar bears and
survival of subadults, after which reproductive success and
survival of both species increased again.
Unfortunately, several bad years for ringed seal pup
survival caused by shallow snow depth in spring means that in subsequent years, fewer seal pups will be produced for
polar bears to eat —
polar bears end up suffering after a bit
of a lag.
Regehr, E. V., N. J. Lunn, S. C. Amstrup, and I. Stirling, 2007: Effects
of earlier sea ice breakup on
survival and population size
of polar bears in western Hudson Bay.
As a result
of snow depth variations,
polar bear hunting success and cub
survival can fluctuate rather dramatically, which in turn can cause the subpopulation size to fluctuate as well.
In conjunction with the launch
of my State
of the
Polar Bear Report in Toronto next week, Benny Peiser (from the Global Warming Policy Foundation) and I will be participating in a coffee house discussion about polar bear conservation and survival issues on the evening of Tuesday, 27 February 2018 at 8:30
Bear Report in Toronto next week, Benny Peiser (from the Global Warming Policy Foundation) and I will be participating in a coffee house discussion about
polar bear conservation and survival issues on the evening of Tuesday, 27 February 2018 at 8:30
bear conservation and
survival issues on the evening
of Tuesday, 27 February 2018 at 8:30 pm.
The result is a wildly ineffective rebuttal
of my scientific conclusion that Amstrup's 2007
polar bear survival model has failed miserably.
Comments Off on Amstrup & colleages can't refute my critique
of their 2007
polar bear survival model, Part 2
Fortunately, a new study by David Legates, director
of the University
of Delaware's Center for Climatic Research, throws cold water on the claim global warming threatens
polar bears survival.
As Peter Molnar, one
of the paper's authors, says in an interview with the BBC, ``... as the climate warms, we may not see any substantial effect on
polar bear reproduction and
survival for a while, up until some threshold is passed, at which point reproduction and
survival will decline dramatically and very rapidly.»
Research there has shown a direct link between the loss
of sea ice and the health
of polar bears, including a connection between an earlier spring melting
of sea ice and lower
survival rates for cubs.
• As far as is known, the record low extent
of sea ice in March 2017 had no impact on
polar bear health or
survival.
The sea level is rising and threatening the
survival of the noble
polar bear.