Climate Change: Sea Ice Melt Is Threatening Polar Bears

They are at the top of the food chain, but due to climate warming polar bears are facing immense challenges as sea ice continues to decline.

Anthony Pagano and his team at USGS conducted a three year study. They put GPS equipped video camera collars on 20 polar bears. The goal was to better predict how those bears are adapting with less sea ice and more land use.

Pagano spoke with Kaitlin Wright and says, “The period they are on land has increased so they are on land for about three weeks longer than they would have been in the 1980s.”

The bears were seen eating bird and caribou carcasses. which do not have much energy as their main food source which is seal. Their findings were dismal.

Pagano went on to say, “Regardless of whether the bears were resting and conserving their energy or active and feeding on foods on land, they were all losing weight at similar weights. Typically on average 1 kg per day.”

We are losing arctic sea ice by nearly 13 percent per decade, but we are not yet at zero ice. It is not too late.

Greenhouse gas emissions have to be drastically lowered to see an improvement in sea ice melt.

Driving electric vehicles and getting solar panels sound great, but not everyone can do that.

Instead of using so many paper towels, use a dish towel and wash it. Instead of drinking out of water bottles, get a resuable one. Turn off lights. Plant something.