The Natural Resources Defense Council reports, “The Bush administration is inviting comments from the public on its proposal to protect the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act.
Polar bears are completely dependent on Arctic sea ice to survive, but 80 percent of that ice could be gone in 20 years and all of it by 2040. Polar bears are already suffering the effects: birth rates are falling, fewer cubs are surviving, and more bears are drowning. 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 bear’s survival.
“This is your single best chance to make your voice heard in support of polar bear protection … The administration is accepting public comments until April 9th.”
Click here to send a message to the White House.
To learn about national rallies scheduled for 14 April to urge an 80% cut in carbon emissions by 2050, visit Step It Up 2007.
Where the ice is growing rather than melting.
And lot of yummy seals.
Has anyone tried? Can they live there?
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Sadly, however, the ice is also in retreat in Antarctica.
It’s a very similar environment and plenty of prey in the right regions.
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That site tracks til 2003…I read a couple of articles that said recently the glaciers in the Antarctic have been growing..I’d research and link but I’m on the go. Shouldn’t be too hard to find.
That’s always worked out before.
A bit of web checking suggests that exactly to your point, the bears would do great in Antarctica, but it would be curtains for the penguins etal.
So, the et al makes it a bad idea IMO.
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Here’s a better idea: try to prevent future melting in the first place. Try to find more places for the bears to live near where they live currently. That sort of thing.
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Moving animals to new continents isn’t likely to work out quite right in the long run.
Klingsolver’s amazing Poisonwood Bible takes place in the Belgian Congo. A missionary arrives with his family. He is going to grow a garden to show the natives how it’s done. After some mishaps, the garden plants grow. And grow. And grow. They never produce vegetables or fruits. The trouble is that the insects in the Congo don’t recognize these plants and so they are never pollinated as they would have been in his native Georgia.
Similarly, he polar bears might like the travel brochures but you might have to provide catering.
Maybe the polar bears will just have to adapt to the warmer environment.
…but I had to chime in on that fantastic polar bear. I’m mesmorized!
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Honestly, I hope to see him (her?) on more global warming themed posts. I could watch that thing for hours.
polar bear fur isn’t white. It’s clear! Not only that, but their skin is black to absorb heat from the sun.
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They look white because of light reflecting & refracting off of their clear fur.