Polar Bears: Refugees in Their Own Home.
As the saying goes, what you don’t know won’t hurt you. I beg to differ. The Arctic
Circle is the frozen mass of Arctic Ocean that lies between the borders of several nations and
islands. Canada, Alaska, Russia, and Greenland are the main borders that encircle the Arctic.
“The polar bear depends on the ice of the Arctic oceans for survival. Research that included
extensive
looks at polar bear behavior as well as models of climate and ice cover concluded that future
shrinking of sea ice in the Arctic could lead to a loss of two-thirds of the world's polar bear
population within 50 years.” ( Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society,784) I bet you
didn’t know that, but does it not hurt you to know that human behavior is the main contributor to
the unfortunate events of the polar bear?
Global warming is the contributor to the shrinking Arctic. Global warming is caused by
the greenhouse effect. The earth is surrounded by a thin layer of gas. This gas keeps the heat
from the sun from escaping and warms the earth. This is a good thing, without the gas trapping
the sunlight we would all freeze to death. However, with humans contributing toxins such as
carbon dioxide to the atmosphere this gas layer has grown in thickness trapping more and more
of the sunlight and therefore heating up the earth. With the rise in global temperatures the Arctic
shelf, land based ice, and glaciers are slowly melting into the ocean. (Lindinger)
Polar bears are facing extinction if this warming trend continues. “ …The U.S.
Department of the Interior announced on May 14, 2008, that it is listing the polar bear as a
Threatened Species under the Endangered Species Act. Canada and Russia both list the polar
bear as "a species of concern.” (Polar Bears International)
“When scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society recently went to northern
Alaska to study the effects of global warming on wildlife, they thought they would be in safe
company. After all, they were studying the effect of shoreline erosion on benign seabirds.
Instead, they found themselves in uncomfortably close proximity to a polar bear that was trapped
on land because of thinning sea ice.” (Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 1637)
Andrew Derocher is a biology professor at the University of Canada Alberta. Professor Derocher
has twenty-eight years experience in the study of polar bears. CNN reporter Lawrence McGinty
has traveled to Hudson Bay, Canada to talk with Andrew Derocher about the current state of the
polar bear. Locals in the town of Churchill have explained to Professor Derocher that stray polar
bears have traveled into town in the search for food. Derocher explains that many polar bears
have turned to cannibalism in order to survive, bears have been found dead due to drowning in
search of the next ice shelf, and more and more bears are straying into nearby towns in search of
food. (CNN) Stories like these are becoming more and more popular among the areas
surrounding the Arctic. This comes as no surprise when we consider the data presented us
concerning the shrinking of the Arctic ice.
The thickness of the Arctic ice has been measured every September since 1987 and
observed. “The Arctic Ocean has declined from 3.7 to 2.6 m at a rate of 0.57 m a decade.”
(Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society,784) This doesn’t seem like a large amount.
But according to estimates the Arctic “…will have zero thickness between 2025 and 2030.”
(Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society,784)
NASA earth/observatory graphs show that the decline in Arctic ice is rapid and has been
in the process for years. From 1958 to 1976 the Canada Basin held ice thickness of 3.5 meters.
Unfortunately the Canada Basin only held a little over two meters of ice thickness from the time
period of 1993-1997. Other areas such as the Eastern Arctic, Nansen Basin, and the North Pole
are experiencing the same situation. These areas experienced a nearly 50% decline in ice
thickness over a time period of a little less than twenty years. With the global temperature up 1º
F this decline is becoming more and more rapid. (riverdeep.net)
The Arctic is a region characterized by high variability making it very vulnerable to
change. “The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2001) states that the winter
warming of northern high-latitude regions by the end of the century will be at least 40% greater
than the global mean…” (Alakseev, Bengtsson, etc.) A rapid change such as this would make a
heavy impact on any region of the world, but due to the Arctic’s high variability the result will
be devastating and possibly fatal to the Arctic residents such as the polar bear.
I have shared with you three distinctive facts determined by educated and trustworthy
sources that the Arctic is melting and by mid century there is a great chance it will be entirely
gone. What will it take for us to wake up and realize that it is our actions that have promoted the
decline of the Arctic and therefore the extinction of the polar bear? If we wait to find out it could
be too late.
“May 11, 2006—DNA analysis has confirmed that a bear shot in the Canadian Arctic last
month is a half-polar bear, half-grizzly hybrid.” (John Roach, 1) Polar Bears have a very
distinctive mating ritual. The female polar bear only produces eggs when she is in the close
proximity of a male bear for several days. After several days of close contact the bears will mate
several times over a few days. So we know that the mating process was no accident. (John
Roach, 1) This very story is prime example of the polar bear reaching out for survival. If the
polar bear is traveling in areas that are inhabited by grizzly bears if it by no means close to home.
The female bear was probably in search of food or shelter due to the shrinking Arctic ice.
“Polar bears live on ice all year round and use it as a platform from which to hunt food
and rear their young. They hunt near the edge, where the ice is thinnest, catching seals when they
make holes in the ice to breath.” (Will Iredale, Sunday Times) However, with the rapid decline
in ice polar bears are being made to swim 60 to 100 miles off shore in order to reach the next
area of significant ice. Although some polar bears can make this journey and survive with the
right conditions, others are taken by the sea due to rough water, pure exhaustion, or starvation.
“According to the new research, four bear carcasses were found floating in one month in a single
patch of sea off the north coast of Alaska.” (Will Iredale, Sunday Times)
“The sea ice in Hudson Bay, Canada, now breaks up 2 1/2 weeks earlier than it did 30
years ago, said Canadian Wildlife Service research scientist Ian Stirling, and as a result female
polar bears there weigh 55 pounds less than they did then. Assuming the current rate of ice
shrinkage and accompanying weight loss in the Hudson Bay region, bears there could become so
thin by 2012 they may no longer be able to reproduce, said Lara Hansen, chief scientist for the
World Wildlife Fund. "Once the population stops reproducing, that's pretty much the end of it,"
Hansen said.” ()
Hybrids, drowning, and weight loss are all clear and distinct signs that the polar bear is in
danger due to shrinking ice. If polar bears are unable to reproduce by 2012 and more and more
bears are dying due to drowning, and polar bears are traveling elsewhere in order to survive;
what will become of the polar bear population? Their habitat is literally being pulled out from
under their feet. Polar bears have become refugees in their own homes.
Many people doubt the fact that global warming is the cause to the Arctic ice decline and
even more doubt that the Arctic is even experiencing any permanent loss at all. These must be
the individuals that live by the belief that what they don’t know won’t hurt them. You may or
may not believe that global warming is the contributor to the Arctic ice decline, but regardless
the cause, the effect is still loss of Arctic ice. Facts, data, and firsthand experience have all
proved the Arctic ice decline is real and ever present.
This is not an issue for the future generations this is an issue for here and now. The ice
will not wait for the world to catch up with it and the polar bears can’t wait for the world to catch
up with it. If we want there to be a future for the polar bear, the time to act is now.
There are a few simple changes the world can make to reduce global warming. People
don’t realize that the smallest changes can make the biggest difference. Create car pools for
school or church in your neighborhood. Save up to buy a more efficient vehicle when the time
comes to buy a new car. Run all your errands in one day instead of driving several times a week.
Do not let your car idle for long periods of time. Ride your bike or walk to destinations in close
distance. Replace one light bulb in your house with a fluorescent light bulb. Use cloth grocery
bags. Only wash dishes or clothes when you have a full load and when washing clothes use cold
water whenever possible. Limit your showers to fifteen minutes. Turn the water off when
brushing your teeth or washing your face. Recycle. Buy products that are eco friendly, such as
green works cleaning products and products made from recyclable products. Use newspaper or
cloth for cleaning instead of paper towels. Plant a tree. By fresh food instead of frozen. Buy
products that have limited packaging. Turn off your lights when not in use. Unplug small
appliances not in use. Have a power hour once during the week, where you turn off all lights,
don’t use any energy or water for one hour. These are all very simple things that make a huge
impact on the world. If every person in the world performed one of these activities once a day
we could put a huge dent in global warming.
This topic is very important to me. I have a compassion for all life, whether it is human,
animal, or plant. Therefore, when I hear about the decline of the polar bear population and I
know that the cause is created by me and my lifestyle it breaks my heart; especially when I
consider the fact that polar bears are defenseless creatures. They cannot declare war on global
warming or travel to the capital and have a protest against pollution. They are innocent creatures
and it is our job as humans to create a world for them that is safe and secure.
I do not want to wake up one day and discover that the polar bear is gone and part of the
responsibility lied on my shoulders. Instead of acting I stood by and watched the polar bear die
off one by one. Global warming did not happen overnight and global warming didn’t happen all
by its self. Global warming is a world issue and it will take the participation of the world and
good time in order to fight off global warming.
If we as the world do not act in a timely fashion; by 2012 polar bear females will not be
able to reproduce, by mid century the Arctic ice will be gone or well on its way to being gone,
and polar bears will be extinct. It is up to the world to make the ever so small change amongst
our everyday activities and save the polar bears, save the Arctic, and save the world.