How is global warming killing polar bears?

Answer 1

There is no concrete evidence that global warming has had an effect on polar bears, although there are some theories, like low weight for pregnant females. However, none of these theories have been truly substantiated.

A:Polar bears live in many areas all around the Arctic Circle. It is impossible to have an accurate count of how many there are. Scientists estimate their numbers at around 22,000 world wide. How do they estimate?

One way scientists estimate numbers is capture - recapture technique. If one year they capture and tag 100 bears in an area, and the following year they capture 100 bears, but only 10 of them are tagged, then they estimate that there are 1000 bears in the area. (Obviously this takes no account of births, deaths and bear migration.)

This capturing and tagging continues over a number of years and scientists can check blood and fat samples as well as weight and physical condition.

The Southern Beaufort Sea area (North Alaska and North-West Canada) has a well studied polar bear population.

Scientists have been able to compare the data on the bears over many years and in 2006 reported that since 1986 there had been

• a drop in the survival rate of the cubs
• Lower body weight and smaller skull sizes in adult male polar bears.

The Western Hudson Bay population showed the same results. Bear numbers here dropped from 1200 in 1987 to about 950 in 2004. Winter sea ice there melts three weeks earlier and refreezes later in the summer, so the bears have a longer and hungrier summer on land, where there is no food for them.

Answer 2

Extinction of polar bears won't affect the earth as a planet, it will still spin. It will affect scavengers and other animals that may rely on carcasses from polar bear kills for food. Honestly, as depressed as it will be to lose polar bears, it may not cause a wave of other extinctions, but we should try to save them because the calousness that cause their extinction will cause other problems. I believe that global climate change, whether wholly caused by humans or not, will make life for humans difficult in the near future. What we need to do to help polar bears now will be the same things we need to do to save ourselves later.

Answer 3

Global warming is causing the Arctic ice to melt, which is affecting the polar bears' ability to hunt for their main food source: seals. As the ice disappears, polar bears have to swim longer distances to find food, leading to more exhaustion and a higher risk of drowning. Additionally, loss of sea ice reduces polar bears' habitat and breeding grounds, impacting their overall population and reproductive success.