The polar bear: The king of the arctic and its melting kingdom

The climate change threatens the polar bear’s living environment and livelihood. Nowadays,

there are 19 distinct subpopulations of polar bears living in the Arctic with a total amount of only 20’000 – 25’000 polar bears left. Because of the climate change, the average temperature in the arctic has risen by around five degrees Celsius in the last 100 years. This means that the ice is melting earlier in spring, getting thinner and thinner in summer and refreezing later in autumn.

But polar bears live mainly on the pack ice, which covers the polar sea around the North Pole. They need the ice for hunting, resting and breeding. Without the sea ice, the polar bears cannot catch enough seals to eat and if they do not have enough food, they are not able to get their required fat reserves. Furthermore, longer periods of unsuccessful hunts decrease polar bears’ reproductive success; a female polar bear who has not reached sufficient weight may not have cubs, may produce less milk or even abandon its cubs. This could have an impact of the polar bear’s viability.

That polar bears can survive in the future, it needs human intervention. For example, the emission of greenhouse gases must be reduced in the long term. Otherwise, most polar bear populations will be extinct in 30 - 40 years.

Sources:

http://www.wwf.at/de/eisbaer/

http://blog.nature.org/science/2013/12/03/what-science-polar-bear/

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/sep/14/polar-bears-losing-crucial-sea-ice-study-arctic

Picture:

http://www.kill-co2.de/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/eisb%C3%A4r-ohne-eis.jpg

populations will be extinct in 30 - 40 years.