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When I was young, I thought that big, roaring animals were so strong that they were immortal. Elephants, lions, and bears with their natural size or predatory instincts conveyed the feeling of invincability. Polar Bears held a special place in my heart, and with such an abundance in Arctic areas, you can imagine my shock when I read that polar bears are drowning to due global warming.

For some of you, this might not register as particularly unusual. But despite the fact that polar bears are not invincible, they are strong hunters, and have the ability to travel up to 3,000 miles across the Arctic. Their style of living, hunting and surviving are all particularly designed to survive and thrive in the Arctic weather.

 Their strength and power, however, are no match for global warming. The effects of global warming are forcing polar bears to change their technique of surviving, as global warming limits their resources.  The effects of climate change – particularly the rising of temperature and precipitation in the Arctic – is a serious threat to the polar bear population. These bears successfully hunt during the winter time because they use the ice as a mechanism in hunting: when seals make a hole in the ice for their breathing, the bears wait until the seals surface, then grab them up for food. Without ice, they are in danger of dying of starvation because they are unable to catch seal that are swimming in water.

Lack of proper food can be significantly damaging to a polar bear’s ability to survive the winter.  A study on bears in Canada’s Hudson Bay shows that for every week earlier that ice breaks up, bears become 10kg lighter than what they should be. In addition, it also reported that female bears lose 22kg due to lesser ice hunting. Worse, this ice meltdown has a harmful effect to cubs. During the ice free season of 1980-1992, the survival rate was 44% and this was caused by lack of food.

Polar Bears have excellent swimming abilities – in fact, their scientific name, Ursus Maritimus, means “sea bear”. It is not surprising to spot the occasional polar bears to swimming kilometers away from their home, according to scientists. Last year, however, in the northwest coast of Alaska, there were nine polar bears seen swimming 20 to 100 kilometres!! Scientists say that seeing so many in one day is very worrisome, especially because there has been an increase in polar bear drownings in recent years.

Lack of ice results in more swimming and difficulties for finding food. The effects of global warming can significantly hard the ability of survival for polar bears. Photo Credit to source.

“The bottom line here is that polar bears need sea ice,” said Richard Steiner of the University of Alaska’s Marine Advisory Program. “The sea ice is decaying, and the bears are in very serious trouble. For any people who are still non-believers in global warming and the impacts it is having in the Arctic, this should answer their doubts, once and for all.”

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As climate changes dramatically change the Arctic, polar bears and their cubs are forced to swim longer distances to find food or habitat. If the melting of ice continues, it would be one of the worst possible situations for the polar bears. There will come a time when we see not only bears swimming, but also  cubs drowning.

It is estimated by the US Geological Survey Office that the melting of ice in the Arctic will lose 2/3rds of the Polar Bears’ population in the next 50 years. All these effects on the Polar Bears push the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service to determine if they should place the bears on the endangered list of species. The bears are currently on the threatened species list which means there are only a few steps away to extinction.

Global warming has put such a powerful species in danger of completely disappearing from our Earth.

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By Fydez Tan

Blog Writer 2009-2010, Change Tomorrow’s World