In the gateway to the Arctic, fat, ice and polar bears are crucial. All three are in trouble.
3 months, 2 weeks ago

In the gateway to the Arctic, fat, ice and polar bears are crucial. All three are in trouble.

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Searching for polar bears where the Churchill River dumps into Canada's massive Hudson Bay, biologist Geoff York scans a region that's on a low fat, low ice diet because of climate change. More than polar bears are threatened in this changing gateway to the Arctic, where warmer waters melt sea ice earlier in the year and the open ocean lingers longer. In the Hudson Bay, unlike other areas where polar bears live, sea ice naturally disappears in the summer. There's about 4,500 polar bears in the three Hudson Bay populations and 55,000 beluga whales.

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History of this topic

In the gateway to the Arctic, fat, ice and polar bears are crucial. All three are in trouble
3 months, 2 weeks ago

In the gateway to the Arctic, fat, ice and polar bears are crucial. All three are in trouble

Associated Press  

ON HUDSON BAY — Searching for polar bears where the Churchill River dumps into Canada’s massive Hudson Bay, biologist Geoff York scans a region that’s on a low fat, low ice diet because of climate change. Geoff York, left, director of research at Polar Bears International, and Kieran McIver, right, manager of field operations, look for polar bears along the …

As warming threatens polar bear tourism, a Canadian town adapts and thrives
4 months ago

As warming threatens polar bear tourism, a Canadian town adapts and thrives

Associated Press  

CHURCHILL, Manitoba — Change has broken, remade and continues to reshape this remote town where tundra meets forest on the shore of Hudson Bay. That’s not going to get you any points.” Churchill Mayor Mike Spence, a member of the Cree First Nation, poses for a portrait, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, at the Seaport Hotel in Churchill, Manitoba. “You don’t …

For threatened polar bears, the climate change diet is a losing proposition
10 months, 4 weeks ago

For threatened polar bears, the climate change diet is a losing proposition

Associated Press  

For polar bears, the climate change diet is a losing proposition, a new study suggests. In the area of the Hudson Bay where researchers studied, lack of sea ice has meant polar bears are on land three weeks longer than in the 1980s, Pagano said. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service lists polar bears as a threatened species “due …

Polar bears at greatest risk of extinction than ever due to climate change prolonging Arctic summers, study claims
10 months, 4 weeks ago

Polar bears at greatest risk of extinction than ever due to climate change prolonging Arctic summers, study claims

Daily Mail  

Polar bears are at greater risk of extinction than ever before as they are unlikely to adapt to longer Arctic summers, warns new research. During three summer weeks, 20 polar bears closely observed by scientists tried different ways to maintain energy reserves - including resting, scavenging and foraging. During three summer weeks, 20 polar bears closely observed by scientists tried …

Antarctica is missing an area of sea ice the size of Greenland in a ‘shocking’ climate trend
1 year, 5 months ago

Antarctica is missing an area of sea ice the size of Greenland in a ‘shocking’ climate trend

The Independent  

Even in an era of alarming climate records, a worrying slew of milestones has already been passed in 2023 as our planet warms. “If you took an average of sea ice extent around the coast, the sea ice would extend around 1,000km out from the coast, but this year the recordings mean it’s about 100km further back than in a …

Explained | What is happening to Arctic sea ice?
1 year, 7 months ago

Explained | What is happening to Arctic sea ice?

The Hindu  

The story so far: A recent study in the Nature journal says that the loss of Arctic sea ice is inevitable in the decades ahead, even if the world somehow gets its act together and sharply reduces carbon emissions. As the amount of sea ice decreases, the Arctic region’s cooling effect is reduced, and this may initiate a ‘feedback loop’ …

Polar bears and melting ice challenge scientists at world’s northernmost research station
1 year, 8 months ago

Polar bears and melting ice challenge scientists at world’s northernmost research station

The Independent  

Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Get our free Climate email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “The snow in the valley is gone, and you are stuck in town and your snowmobile is in the …

Polar bear kills woman and 1-year-old, tries to breach a school in Alaska village
1 year, 11 months ago

Polar bear kills woman and 1-year-old, tries to breach a school in Alaska village

LA Times  

A polar bear chased several residents around a tiny, isolated Alaska Native whaling village, killing a mother and her 1-year-old son in an extremely rare attack before another community member shot and killed the bear, authorities said. Like many far-flung Alaska villages, the predominantly Inupiaq community of roughly 150 people in Wales has organized patrols when the bears are expected …

Canada: Polar bears in 'bear capital of the world' dying at fast rate
2 years ago

Canada: Polar bears in 'bear capital of the world' dying at fast rate

The Hindu  

Polar bears in Canada's Western Hudson Bay — on the southern edge of the Arctic — are continuing to die in high numbers, a new government survey of the land carnivore has found. “The actual decline is a lot larger than I would have expected,” said Andrew Derocher, a biology professor at the University of Alberta who has studied Hudson …

Canadian polar bears near ‘bear capital’ dying at fast rate
2 years ago

Canadian polar bears near ‘bear capital’ dying at fast rate

Associated Press  

Polar bears in Canada’s Western Hudson Bay — on the southern edge of the Arctic — are continuing to die in high numbers, a new government survey of the land carnivore has found. Researchers surveyed Western Hudson Bay — home to Churchill, the town called ‘the Polar Bear Capital of the World,’ — by air in 2021 and estimated there …

Canadian polar bears near ‘bear capital’ dying at fast rate
2 years ago

Canadian polar bears near ‘bear capital’ dying at fast rate

LA Times  

A male polar bear walks along the shore of Hudson Bay near Churchill, Canada, on Aug. 23, 2010. Polar bears in Canada’s Western Hudson Bay — on the southern edge of the Arctic — are continuing to die in high numbers, a new government survey released Thursday found. Polar bears in Canada’s Western Hudson Bay — on the southern edge …

Is climate change really killing polar bears? Scientists find new population in ice-free sea
2 years, 6 months ago

Is climate change really killing polar bears? Scientists find new population in ice-free sea

Daily Mail  

While polar bears are often used as the poster child for climate change, a new study has cast doubt on whether rising temperatures will really kill off the animals. Researchers from the University of Washington have discovered a new population of polar bears thriving in the ice-free sea in Southeast Greenland. While polar bears are often used as the poster …

In a place with little sea ice, polar bears have found another way to hunt
2 years, 6 months ago

In a place with little sea ice, polar bears have found another way to hunt

NPR  

In a place with little sea ice, polar bears have found another way to hunt Enlarge this image toggle caption Kristin Laidre Kristin Laidre Polar bears normally need sea ice to hunt seals, but an isolated group of polar bears living on the rugged, mountainous coast of southeast Greenland have figured out how to eke out a living, even though …

EXPLAINER: How warming affects Arctic sea ice, polar bears
3 years, 2 months ago

EXPLAINER: How warming affects Arctic sea ice, polar bears

Associated Press  

Majestic, increasingly hungry and at risk of disappearing, the polar bear is dependent on something melting away on our warming planet: sea ice. “There’s just something special about polar bears.” Scientists and advocates point to polar bears, marked as “threatened” on the endangered species list, as the white-hot warning signal for the rest of the planet — “the canary in …

Arctic’s ‘Last Ice Area’ shows earlier-than-expected melt
3 years, 6 months ago

Arctic’s ‘Last Ice Area’ shows earlier-than-expected melt

LA Times  

A polar bear sits atop a thick chunk of sea ice north of Greenland. Part of the Arctic is nicknamed the “Last Ice Area,” because floating sea ice there is usually so thick that it’s likely to withstand global warming for decades. While scientists have said most of the Arctic could be free of summer sea ice by midcentury, the …

Starving Polar Bears are Mating with Grizzlies and Creating 'Pizzly Bears' Due to Climate Change
3 years, 8 months ago

Starving Polar Bears are Mating with Grizzlies and Creating 'Pizzly Bears' Due to Climate Change

News 18  

Polar bears, on the verge of extinction due to climate change, are frequently moving inland in search of food and mating with grizzly bears to create a hybrid animal that is more resilient to the warming world. The grizzly bears are well adapted to eat hard foods like plant tubers when resources are limited, not the polar bears. Paleontologist Larisa …

Polar bears forced to forage eggs as warming shrinks hunting grounds: study
3 years, 9 months ago

Polar bears forced to forage eggs as warming shrinks hunting grounds: study

The Hindu  

Hungry polar bears are increasingly foraging on seabird eggs as climate change shrinks their Arctic hunting grounds, but research published Wednesday on the phenomenon highlights the struggle these apex predators have to adapt to their rapidly changing environment. Jagielski told AFP that the research could not speak more broadly to polar bears' ability to cope with climate change, but did …

Polar Bears are Using Four Times as Much Energy to Hunt as Climate Change Rapidly Melts Arctic Ice
3 years, 10 months ago

Polar Bears are Using Four Times as Much Energy to Hunt as Climate Change Rapidly Melts Arctic Ice

News 18  

Do animals know their time is running out? As the Arctic ice rapidly melts owing to climate change, two seemingly dissimilar apex predators are being forced to adapt their diets and behaviours faster than these cold-climate mammals can cope. Polar bears and narwhals are using up to four times as much energy to survive because of major ice loss in …

Svalbard’s polar bears are sending messages to scientists
4 years, 1 month ago

Svalbard’s polar bears are sending messages to scientists

CNN  

CNN — Polar bears take some cajoling as pen pals. “ about 300 living in Svalbard year-round,” he explains, “if you fly for one hour, most of the time you find one.” Russia — In Ryrkaypiy, a village in Russia's Far Eastern region of Chukotka, polar bears come in close contact with humans in December 2019. ORLANDO SIERRA/AFP/AFP/Getty Images This …

Climate change on track to wipe out polar bears by 2100
4 years, 5 months ago

Climate change on track to wipe out polar bears by 2100

The Hindu  

Climate change is starving polar bears into extinction, according to research published on July 20 that predicts the apex carnivores could all but disappear within the span of a human lifetime. But even if humanity were able to cap global warming at 2.4C — about half-a-degree above Paris Agreement targets, but hugely ambitious all the same — it would probably …

Polar Bears May Be Extinct by 2100 and We Only Have Climate Change to Blame
4 years, 5 months ago

Polar Bears May Be Extinct by 2100 and We Only Have Climate Change to Blame

News 18  

Climate change is starving polar bears into extinction, according to research published Monday that predicts the apex carnivores could all but disappear within the span of a human lifetime. "The bears face an ever longer fasting period before the ice refreezes and they can head back out to feed," Steven Amstrup, who conceived the study and is chief scientist of …

Unabated global warming is driving polar bears toward extinction, say researchers
4 years, 5 months ago

Unabated global warming is driving polar bears toward extinction, say researchers

Firstpost  

The fate of polar bears has long been a flashpoint in the debate over human-caused climate change, used by scientists and environmentalists as well as deniers in their arguments Polar bears could become nearly extinct by the end of the century as a result of shrinking sea ice in the Arctic if global warming continues unabated, scientists said on Monday. …

Climate change: Most polar bears could struggle to survive in the Arctic by 2100
4 years, 5 months ago

Climate change: Most polar bears could struggle to survive in the Arctic by 2100

CNN  

CNN — For many people, there is one animal that comes to mind when they think of creatures threatened by climate change: the polar bear. A new study finds that polar bears in most regions of the Arctic could struggle to survive beyond 2100 if humans do not reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Next, the researchers looked at projections for Arctic …

Polar bears are getting thinner and having fewer cubs, a new study says
4 years, 10 months ago

Polar bears are getting thinner and having fewer cubs, a new study says

CNN  

CNN — The impact of the climate crisis is becoming more and more obvious to humans and their animal neighbors. “Bears in this area give us a good basis for understanding the implications of sea ice loss.” The bears are spending less time on land and losing weight Laidre and her colleagues tracked the movements of adult female polar bears …

'Starving' Polar Bear Wanders Into Siberian Town
5 years, 6 months ago

'Starving' Polar Bear Wanders Into Siberian Town

NPR  

'Starving' Polar Bear Wanders Into Siberian Town Enlarge this image toggle caption Irina Yarinskaya/Zapolyarnaya Pravda/Reuters Irina Yarinskaya/Zapolyarnaya Pravda/Reuters A polar bear described as "starving and exhausted" and looking for food has strayed into a city in Russia's northern Siberia, hundreds of miles from the animal's natural Arctic range. According to Reuters, the female bear who wandered into Norilsk, a major …

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