Climate Scientists Spotlight Arctic Warming, Plight Of Polar Bears

A climate scientist at the University of Chicago and 30 of her colleagues from across North America and Europe are urging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list the polar bear as a threatened species because global warming is melting its sea-ice habitat.

"As scientists engaged in research on climate change, we are deeply concerned about the effect of Arctic warming on the polar bear habitat," said a letter submitted to the Fish and Wildlife Service on June 15. "Biologists have determined that sea-ice is critical in the life cycle of the polar bear and the survival of the polar bear as a species.

Under the Endangered Species Act, the Fish and Wildlife Service is required to list a species for protection if it is in danger of extinction or threatened by possible extinction in all or a significant portion of its range. The ongoing and projected increased loss of sea-ice in the warming Arctic poses a significant threat to the polar bear."

The letter was not a petition, said Pamela Martin, Assistant Professor in Geophysical Sciences at the University of Chicago, who organized the effort. "Rather, it was a letter summarizing some key aspects of the best available science on global warming and, in particular, Arctic warming.

"The polar bear listing petition is really illustrative of the challenge in addressing many environmental problems facing us as a global community. These problems don't fit squarely within a single scientific discipline--they not only require scientists to talk across disciplines, such as the geophysical and biological sciences as in the case of the polar bear, but also across the larger divide that separates scientists from policy makers."

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http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/06/060618233605.htm