Are polar bear numbers really increasing?

Question

Are polar bear numbers really increasing?

Answer 1

no theyre decreasing. They are running out of habitat.

Answer 2

In some areas they are increasing in number, but in other areas they are drowning because the ice pack is disappearing. Global warming is happening. It is probably a natural cycle that man is speeding up. We need to stop bickering about details and try to reduce it as much as we can without destroying our economy.

Answer 3

Sadly Dana, Hudson Bay doesn't contain the entire population of polar bears.

Like others have said, we don't really know, because it is difficult to track polar bear populations. So the trend in overall population is problematic to determine. Some areas have seen an increase and some areas have seen a decrease. However, we pretty sure that the overall population has increased since the 70's, but more recently, we are unsure.

http://environment.newscientist.com/chan...

http://www.greatbear.org/polarbear.htm

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/200...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnew...

Answer 4

No actually their decreasing. Due to global warming and the sun, it makes it harder for polar bears to live.

Answer 5

I'm not sure, but it's not really the right question to ask. The right question to ask is, are their numbers expected to decrease due to destruction of their habitat caused by GW, and the answer is definitely yes.

The denialists who go on about polar bear numbers are the same people who will say that there is more forest now than there was hundreds of years ago. They can twist anything 180 degrees with their sophistry in order to avoid the actual spirit of an argument.

Answer 6

polar bear numbers are increasing BUT more polar bears are dying by drowning than ever before

Answer 7

You will get different points of view on this depending on which side of the AGW debate your on. You can go to sites on both sides of the issue and both will quote you their facts and state that the other side is being false (myth).  With the bias on both sides you will have to do some research on your own and determine who is more credible.  I do agree with one of the respondent's, hunters have done a lot to ensure that populations remain stable. Historically hunting groups such as Duck Unlimited have worked with agencies to ensure there is a healthy and stable population of Ducks to ensure that their children and grand children will enjoy the sport of hunting.  I would assume that those who hunt polar bears would want and desire the same thing.

Answer 8

they are normal, for now. global warming was meant to happen, weather humans or not. but we are just speeding up the cycle.

Answer 9

Yes, in fact a guy went to the white house dressed up as a poler bear complaing about it!

Answer 10

No, that's a myth.  Read the interview with a scientist with the Canadian Wildlife Service who studies polar bear populations linked below for further details.

Answer 11

I don't think anyone knows. Until very recently there was not the techniques nor the interest nor the extremely high funding needed for adequate census of these far ranging remote-living bears. Some believe that we are seeing more bears now largely because their ranges, especially the sea ice, are decreasing and more come into or near human settlements looking for food.

The most authoritative recent source of information was an international conference of the IUCN Polar Bear Specialist Group in Seattle in 2005. The finding was that of the 19 subpopulations of polar bears, five were declining, five were stable, two were increasing, and seven had insufficient data to make a determination. You can download the Seattle IUCN report from the website below. Perusing it may give you some indication of how challenging it is to try to answer your question straightforwardly.

People who have posted confident answers - especially the usual claque of global warming deniers - simply don't know what they're talking about.  Some find one bit of data in one place and think they have THE answer. Sad.

Answer 12

They are not strong enough swimmers to get across great distances.

So unless they learn to walk on water they will eventually be  extinct.

Answer 13

last i heard they are decreasing! w/ the rise in sea level due to global warming causing the ice caps to melt -- now they have no ice to rest on and many are actually drowning! its awful!

Answer 14

In general the polar bear populations are increasing.  There are now about 25,000 worldwide, a greater number than ever previously recorded.

A few populations (polar bears live in certain areas called populations) are not doing as well, with numbers holding their own or, in the case of a population on the west coast of Hudson's Bay, declining due to overhunting.  But this overhunting has been dealt with, and things will return to normal.  (It is this one population that Al Gore and the eco-environmental-terrorists love to use as their platform because the others are okay.  Their lies have been uncovered.).

So, yes, through strict quotas for hunting their numbers are increasing.  Polar bears rarely drown, as someone mentioned above.  They're actually more of a marine animal than land animal, and their fur is a natural flotation device.

Answer 15

They have increased from 5000 in the 1970s to more than 25000 today. The Global Warming people want us to believe that the numbers are decreasing when the numbers are actually increasing.

Answer 16

Where do you people GET this nonsense?  Polar Bears have been seriously DECREASING for the past 2 years... with fewer cubs being born and more of the ones who are born, drowning. It's called GLOBAL WARMING

Answer 17

The easiest way to ensure the survival of any animal species is to make a hunting season for them.  Hunters will ensure the habitat for these animals is protected and safe and the continuation of the species will be guaranteed.  Right now the polar bear poluation is stable for its environment.

Answer 18

Put up signs for the Polar Bears to stay away from water.. lol