Global Warming Vs Polar Bears

Elizabeth Miller

Physical Geology Lab

Environmental Issues Paper

Global Warming vs Polar Bears

Scientifically known as Ursus maritimus, the polar bear is a marine mammal that spends more time at sea than on land. (“Global Warming and Polar Bears”) The bears’ population is between 20,000 and 25,000 worldwide. (“Polar Bears Threatened by Global Warming, Says Bush Administration”) Stocks, or groups of polar bears, are distributed throughout the Arctic. They are known to be long-lived creatures. The ability to replace individuals is very limited and the population growth is extremely slow. The Population fluctuates in response to natural factors like climate and prey availability. Their population can be impacted by hunting, oil spills,

(Goldenberg, Suzanne.) The bears at risk are a sign of something wrong in the Arctic marine ecosystem. Climate change and the lost of sea ice habitat is the greatest threat. They now have fewer opportunities to feed. They rely on sea ice to hunt and store energy for summer and fall, when food can be scarce. Sea ice is now melting earlier in the spring and forming later in the fall. For every week earlier the ice breaks up in Hudson Bay, bears come ashore roughly 22 pounds lighter and in poorer condition. Unhealthy bears can lead to lower reproduction rates. (“Threats To Polar

For populations with functioning programs, the PBSG can estimate the status of the population. The group urges governments to start monitoring populations whose stability are unknown. The population estimates can be made and trends documented to help secure their sustainability. International involvement in polar bear conservation dates back to 1965, when scientists from Canada, Norway, USS, and US, met in Fairbanks to discuss conservation due to the widespread concern about the population being over harvested. Until 1965 there was little management of polar bears in the Arctic and no coordinated effort among countries. Harvest rates were rising rapidly in most areas except Russia,who enacted a ban on hunting in 1956. The Fairbanks meeting resulted in the formation of the IUCN/SSC Polar Bear Specialist Group. The mission was to coordinate polar bear research and management programs on an international basis and to exchange information on each country 's programs. Members of the PBSG and the countries they represent developed and negotiated the International Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears, which was signed in Oslo, Norway in May of 1973. PBSG meets every three to five years with a goal of advancing the principles of the Agreement. (“Polar Bears In Recent