How Do Polar Bears Affect The Environment

The Polar bear lives in the artic and uses the area’s costal waters and ice sheets. They are well equipped to live in this environment because they have a thick coat which serves as an insulator. They mainly prey on seals but have also been known to consume dead whales. They can grow to be 7.25 to 8 feet tall and can weigh around 900 to 1,600 pounds. Polar bears are a keystone species, if their numbers decrease there is a possibility that the seal populations will increase which could be devastating for crustaceans and fish. They help keep populations in balance.

The melting sea ice is also affecting the polar bear's main prey, seals, forcing the bears to turn to alternate, less nutritious food sources. Once sea ice forms in the winter, seals use the ice to create dens to give birth to their pups. In these months, polar bears use sea ice as their hunting grounds to find seal dens. Now that Seasonal Ice is forming later and melting earlier (IPCC, 2013), seals have less time to build dens and give birth. Consequently, polar bears have less time to hunt their preferred prey of seal pups. They must spend more time on land hunting other animals of less nutritional value. Organizations like Sea World Parks have reported male polar bears occasionally eating newly-born polar bear cubs because they cannot find other food to eat. Lack of nutritional food leads to a reduced body size. Polar bears are becoming thinner and weaker from not eating enough (Rode, Amstrup, & Regehr 2010). They have to swim longer distances to find ice to hunt upon, causing many cubs to die because they are not yet strong enough. In the Hudson Bay, the average polar bear weight has decreased by 15% and the population has decreased by 20% (National Wildlife Federation). In the summer when there is no ice, polar bears in the Hudson Bay go onto land to fast until the ice reforms. Now that ice is

There are about 100 different species of animals there, all of which are affected by climate change, but polar bears the worst. Polar bears are the most sensitive to the rapid change in climate because most of their life is spent on sea ice. With the temperatures rising in the Beringia Upland Tundra, the sea ice they thrive on is melting at a very high rate (Powell). Without this ice, the polar bears will not be able to easily move around to mate with other polar bears. They will also not be able to successful hunts on seals because the seals will see them swimming and swim away before anything bad can happen to them. If there was not a shortage of ice, the seals would not see the polar bears on the ice and they would swim closer to the surface. Another challenge the polar bears will face is that they will be eventually forced to go on to the seashore. This would be catastrophic because there would be and increase of competition for food. This could start massive stampedes that could kill polar bear cubs due to adult polar bears trampling them. As of now, there are only 26,000 wild polar bears alive. By 2050, it is predicted that two thirds of all wild polar bears will be gone. By 2100, it is predicted that polar bears will become extinct if nothing is done about global warming and climate change (Kliskey). Another animal in the Beringia Upland Tundra that is affected by climate change in

"Polar Bears, Ringed Seals, and the Complex Consequences of Climate Change" is an article written by Mary Bates who earned her PhD studying Bat echolocation. She works for an American Association for the Advancement of Science. In this article Mary talks about how Climate change is impacting different species at different rates. Here, she focuses on sea-ice dependent animals such as Polar Bears and Ringed Seals at Arctic. She explains on how these animals are dependent upon the sea-ice for living. The Arctic is warming at a rate three times greater than the global average, and that the sea ice coverage is declining rapidly. She also talks about Hamilton's study on sea-ice dependent animals. Before the melting of sea ice the Polar bears used

Another point he makes is that Polar bears are getting scrawnier because the seal habitat has declined because global warming causes the ice to melt. This is false. A common fact global warming supporters forget to mention is that arctic and Antarctic snowfall replenish the ice each year. Polar bears and seals are more in danger of poaching than losing their habitat to global warming. Both species are on the endangered list. However, weighing anywhere between 775 to 1,200 pounds. Polar bears are still the largest species of bear living on the planet.

Polar bears are one of the countless species who are endangered. They were one of the first animals affected by global warming and their population is heavily decreasing. Around 1980, the Arctic was as large as 8 million square kilometres. In 2011, studies show that the Arctic has reduced its size to 4.5 million square kilometers. In the future, will there be anything such as the Arctic? Scientist predict by 2040, only a fringe of ice will remain in Northeast Canada and Northern Greenland. This is known as the Last Ice Area. This matter is mostly taking part in Canada, since; Canada holds more than half the world’s polar bear population. Other affected countries include the U.S. (Alaska), Greenland,

Glacier retreat will greatly affect polar and aquatic ecosystems and animals. Most arctic life revolves around the sea and presence of sea ice. Without the presence of ice, most ecosystems will be recreated. Polar bears are one species in great danger. Polar bears use sea ice as a birthing and hunting ground, and also use it to travel from one place to another. As glaciers start to disappear, the mother polar bear has less access to food; therefore, the chance of survival for her and her young is very slim. The polar bears chance of reproduction becomes less as the glaciers retreat. As the top of the food chain, their decline will cause negative effects for each level below them (Review Diagram G). The only way for polar bears to survive, is by

With the ever rising global temperatures, melting ice caps, and constant warnings about global warming, it is no wonder that the animals inhabiting the artic regions around the world are now suffering a decline in their habitat as well as their livelihood. Such is the case with the Polar Bears who may soon be gone in a scant few years.

At one point in the film, the narrator emphasizes that if the salmon do not come to the area where the bears are waiting for them then Sky “won’t have enough fat stored up to feed Scout and Amber for the next winter’s hibernation.” While the bears like Koda and other wildlife rely heavily on the salmon groups as a source of food, the salmon themselves are depending on water levels and other climatic effects in order to reach the areas they have spawned in for years. From this given scenario, viewers grasp that while salmon depend on what the climate gives them, other animals do as well. In studying ecological impacts, Camille Parmesan further explores these ideas between climate change and wildlife, reporting that not only have bears “suffered significant population declines,” but due to their boundaries, the bears were “declining both in numbers and in mean body weight.” The film’s example and Parmesan’s research solidifies the concept of climate change having control in changing animal habits.

The polar bear, the largest land carnivore in North America, one of the largest animals in the world and a favorite at zoos worldwide, has, over the years, adapted to its harsh Arctic environment. The appropriately named ‘ursus maritimum’ or sea bear usually lives between 15 and 18 years in the wild and spends most of its life on ice. It is the most recent of the eight bear species. The first polar bear was a brown bear subspecies, with brown bear dimensions and brown bear teeth. The polar bear evolution was rapid due to the small population and extreme pressure to survive. Even today, the polar bear continues to evolve to better adapt to the harsh realities of Arctic life.

A research scientist stands on a sheet of ice. He looks right, then left, more ice. Off in the distance are mountains of ice. There are open patches of water in the middle of this great land of ice reflecting the vibrant and glowing sun. Waiting with patience around one patch is a polar bear, white and skinny. Skinny, as the polar bear has not eaten in days. It stands watch with hopeful eyes that a big, juicy seal will pop its head out just enough to get a bite and haul the seal on shore to feed itself and the bear’s two cubs. This area is known as the arctic, and it is home to many animals, such as the polar bear, but they are in danger of losing their home due to the melting ice caps. At the beginning of the article “The geopolitics of Arctic melt”, Charles K. Ebinger, the director of the Energy Security and Climate Initiative at Brookings Institution, as well as Evie Zambetakis, a Senior Research Assistant at Brookings Institute in 2009, asserts their credence of how the thawing Arctic, due to Global warming, increased the interest of the area worldwide.

Regardless of the studies continuously being done on the polar bear and brown grizzly bear lineage, the polar bear is listed as “vulnerable” which is one level below “endangered” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature List. This is due to the warming climate, loss of sea ice, threats of hunting, shipping, and pollution (Hailer, Verena, and Bjorn, 2012).

The polar bear lives up in the Arctic region where global warming and climate change are melting the ice caps that the bears thrive on. They use the ice as a platform from hunting and rest. The random pocket holes in the ice, where the seals pop up at, is where the polar bear catches its prey. With this reduction of ice, “the abundance of seals, and increases the amount of energy and time needed for hunting, leaving less energy for reproduction” (Endangered Species and Habitats).

"We call them dumb animals, and so they are, for they cannot tell us how they feel, but they do not suffer less because they have no words” (Anna Sewell). There is undeniable evidence that animals are being affected by climate change. Even though the effects are difficult to measure, there are many different ways animals are being affected. With the loss of predator and prey species it affects the life cycles in the food chain. The earth’s climate change causes habitats such as snow, ice, or forest areas to alter, resulting in loss of habitat and food accessibility as well as causing extinction.

Polar bears are the most known animals for the impacts of climate change on species. Global warming has been most prominent in the Arctic, and this trend is expected to continue. Their dependence on sea ice makes them highly vulnerable to a changing climate. Polar bears greatly rely on the sea ice environment for traveling, hunting, mating, resting, and in some areas, maternal dens (WWF). Specifically, they depend heavily on sea ice-dependent prey such as seals. Additionally, their long generation time and low reproductive rate may limit their ability to adapt to changes in the environment. Every time people breathe or burn something, oxygen in the air is converted to carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide is used by plants to breathe and is converted back to oxygen, creating a cycle. If there is an increase in oxygen burning, for example, burning a lot of coal or oil to generate electricity or run cars, and cut down trees, the amount of carbon dioxide in the air is increased. This makes the air thicker and warms up the earth. The amount of warming is only a few degrees but it is enough to disturb the fragile balance of nature, which in turn will melt the polar ice, raise sea levels, cause violent hurricanes and endanger species such as polar bears. The polar bears are just one example of endangered animals because of the high demand of human need for energy which is acquired by burning fossil fuels.