Polar Bear Population Seen Declining

By JOHN HEILPRIN, Associated Press Writer



A mother polar bear and her cub sleep near the ice outside Churchill, Canada Nov. 4, 2006. Computer predictions of a dramatic decline of sea ice in regions of the Arctic are confirmed by actual observations, according to scientists for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and could have profound effects on marine mammals dependent on the sea ice such as polar bears, now under consideration by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for "threatened" status under the Endangered Species Act. (AP Photo/CP/Jonathon Hayward, File)


WASHINGTON - Two-thirds of the world's polar bears will be killed off by 2050 _ including the entire population in Alaska _ because of thinning sea ice from global warming in the Arctic, government scientists forecast Friday.

Only in northern Canada and northwestern Greenland are polar bears expected to survive through the end of the century, said the U.S. Geological Survey, which is the scientific arm of the Interior Department.

USGS projects that polar bears during the next half-century will lose 42 percent of the Arctic range they need to live in during summer in the Polar Basin when they hunt and breed.

Polar bears depend on sea ice as a platform for hunting seals, which is their primary food. They rarely catch seals on land or in open water. But the sea ice is decreasing due to climate change _ and the latest forecasts of how much they are shrinking are, if anything, an underestimate, scientists said.

"There is a definite link between changes in the sea ice and the welfare of polar bears," said USGS scientist Steven Amstrup, the lead author of the new studies. "As the sea ice goes, so goes the polar bear."

Scientists do not hold out much hope that the buildup of carbon dioxide and other industrial gases blamed for heating the atmosphere like a greenhouse can be turned around in time to help the polar bears anytime soon.

(rest of the article @ following link)

http://www.comcast.net/news/science/index.jsp?cat=SCIENCE&fn=/2007/09/07/757940.html&cvqh=itn_polarbear

When the last polar bear is gone, then DU will go crazy about the story.

Someone else posted about this too.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1757571

before people begin to care about this.

Like I've said many times, regarding endangered species
and habitats,

When they are gone- they are gone!

;(

Edit- Thanks for posting this.
;-)

we can do but it sounds bleaK doesn't it.

This last paragraph makes me so angry.

"On Friday, Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., urged the Bush administration to grant polar bears federal protection.

"This is becoming a tragic metaphor for the administration's voluntary approach to global warming," said Markey, chairman of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. "Instead of meeting the challenge, the Bush administration is happy to float along, waiting to see if the planet, and polar bears, will sink or swim."

Until we get rid of people like this administration, there is no hope.

NOW they are predicting that the Artic will be summer-ice free by 2030.

Considering that it seems like scientists are unwilling to factor in the increasing rate of the positive feedback loop when considering climactic systems.

Which is insane, considering that a large body of evidence now shows that it is very probable that the Earth's climate is ruled by positive feedback loops, not negative.

By that notion, I infer that it is VERY possible that the Artic will be summer-ice free by 2020 or pehaps even 2015.

Stop on down to the Environment/Energy forum, where there are excellent hard data and ice cap photos so you can see for yourself where we stand.