The Threat Of Food Sources

This study directly relates to my question because it provides two consequences of climate change; sea ice reduction and increase in primary productivity due to the warming of the oceans. As to how it is effecting the polar bears reproduction, results show that in one subpopulation's body size, condition, and reproductive success increased or remained stable due to an increase their prey ringed seals, due to increase in productivity. In the other subpopulation, there was lower recruitment and an overall smaller body size of the bears with a location that had fewer periods of reduced ice and no significant increase in productivity. This suggests that climate change can improve reproductive success of polar bears in some locations and decrease in

Not only will climate affect the ecosystems but will also affect the animals. Climate change affects habitats for thousands of species. Animals that are affected by this would either have to adapt to the new environment or roam other places. Climate change can change life cycles for animals and

Some of their predators include polar bears and killer whales, and because of energy levels,(the ones on the bottom get more direct energy, as going up the prey’s energy levels get less), these predators have pretty big appetites. If seals went extinct these predators will find something else to eat and after a short while those species will probrably decrease in population, because instead of 3-6 animals to eat, extinction narrowed it down to 1-2 for the predators. Harbor seals eat fish a lot of fish. If the seals were removed from the food web, these fish populations will increase quickly, and if the population increases, earth will run out of resources, then there will not be enough to share and the population of these fish will plummet. When the fish source plummets, humans will have problems with resources.

Warmer winters leave seals without protective ice dens. This exposure to the elements increases infant mortality and leaves adults unprotected from fisherman. Fishermen use nets to trap the seals, which also end up littering the oceans. An average of 60,000 seals were killed each year between 1984 and 1994. Most of the pelts are first purchased by processors in Newfoundland. The seals are also facing pollution, which causes habitat loss. Predators of seals are the Orca, Killer Whale, Great White Shark, and Polar Bears. Global warming is another concern for seals. As the polar ice caps melts, the seals find more predators in their natural habitat. Which means they are at risk of being eaten as well as having to share their food and other supplies. Seals have to eat more to gain blubber and keep themselves warm. Seals that live in colder regions are heavier 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.

There are so many consequences because of global warming and humans polluting. As a result of global warming, the polar bear habitat is getting demolished. The warmer temperatures are melting the ice in the Arctic and North Pole. Polar bears are travelling miles and miles to find ice. Polar bears live, eat, and raise their cubs on Arctic ice, which is breaking up and melting at an alarming rate. Year by year, this problem will get worse and worse. Humans and factories throw away their waste in the ocean and it goes in the water the fish and animals drink. Polar bears eat fish and they are affected by this polluted water as well. Hunters kill many animals including the polar bears and it’s decreasing their population. When polar bear population decreases, other animal populations will rise and the animal chain will change. We should not let global warming take over our species and destroy the animal chain. Polar bears are one of the many animals affected and if there are too many animals affected, the whole animal chain will fall apart. Research shows that, even if steps are taken to reduce emissions now, gases already in the atmosphere will continue to heat up the earth for another 40 to 50 years. Scientific statistics indicate they may suffer extinction by year 2100. We still have many years to make a

The favorite food of the polar bear is the ringed seal, however if hungry enough, they will eat other breeds of seals including bearded, harp, hooded and harbor. Polar bears will also eat beluga whales and walrus (Field Guide 2002). At times, they will even eat eggs, crabs and kelp (Milius 1994). The polar bear is strong enough to lift a beluga whale, several times its own weight, out of the water for a meal

In the southernmost parts of polar bear range in Hudson Bay, Canada, the absence of sea ice during summer forces polar bears onshore for 3–4 months each year. On land, polar bears have no access to their preferred and high-energy content prey, ringed seals and bearded seals. In Hudson Bay, polar bears survive the ice-free season on fat stores accumulated while hunting these marine mammals on the sea

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.

One of these reasons is the climate change. Because of the increase in temperature, the arctic ice is shrinking. Greenhouse gases are the main cause for the melting ice which is getting smaller about ten percent every decade. The lack of ice is causing many animals to lose valuable land. Polar bears mainly live in Canada, but also live in Russia, Maritola, and Alaska. This land is melting and they are losing their habitats. While their name, Ursus Maritimus, means sea bear, and they can swim about six miles per hour for up to sixty miles, they do need to rest. Polar bears rely on ice caps to rest and to hunt on. Ice loss means longer distance they need to travel before resting and hunting. Ice is the primary way polar bears hunt, using openings in the ice to hunt seal. They wait for seals to come up for breath, and then dinner is served. However, without ice their method is useless. This causes

The polar bears may survive the climate change and the ice melting. Since the climate is changing, the polar bears had to change their habits from eating seals to caribous and snow geese's eggs. In the Arctic, the ice has been melting and the polar bears have been struggling to stay alive. The snow geese's eggs are not going to help the polar bears forever because they are going to start to protect their nest from polar bears. Also, the caribous could help the polar bears from starvation, they only give little to eat fro the polar bears. By 2068, the caribous and snow geese's eggs wouldn't keep the polar bears alive for long.

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.

The melting ice caps are having a dramatic affect on the polar regions of the earth. For example, the average temperature in the Arctic is rising twice as fast than the rest of the world (nrdc.org). The once prominent ice is now melting at a dramatic speed, which is affecting native people, wildlife, and plants. When the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf splintered, the freshwater lake that it surrounded drained into the ocean, along with the ecosystem that inhabited it. Polar bears, whales, walrus and seals are changing their feeding and migration patterns, making it harder for native people to hunt them (nrdc.org). Because of the flooding, entire villages will be uprooted order to avoid being swamped. Also, the Arctic coastlines are beginning to move as well. The melting ice caps are threatening the native peoples’ cultural identity and their very survival. Ice-dependant animals, such as walruses and ring seals will be greatly affected by the melting ice caps (treehugger.com). They have fewer places to rest on, as well as fewer places to hunt. If the ice caps keep melting, their lives will become in great danger. The melting ice caps are not only affecting the Polar Regions, but they are also affecting the rest of the world as well in the form of rising ocean levels.