Polar bears and global warming?

Question

When the ice caps melt in the Arctic, do the polar bears just drown or attempt to move somewhere? I'm doing a part of my science project about which natural resorces of a biome [[mine=Arctic Ocean]] are effected by our enviromental concern [[mine=global warming]]. I chose the ice caps as natural resources, and wanted to know where the polar bears/penguins/other land creatures moved, if they did at all, to get away from the ice caps. Also, are the conditions of the new location even fit for them to live in?

Thanks,

~~Ali. :)

Answer 1

The Earth has warmed and cooled many times over millions of years......and will continue to do so with......or without man.  The Polar Bears have survived these natural climate cycles and will do so again IF the Earth's north pole once again melts.

"Environmental groups are pushing to list the polar bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act, and the Bush administration is considering their demands[unfortunately, this has since, happened].  It might make sense — if the polar bear were endangered.  But the worldwide population of these bears has more than doubled since 1965, to an estimated 20,000-25,000 today.  Far from being threatened, by all accounts the bears are thriving.  So what's behind the push to "save" the bears?  A desire to ban energy exploration in much of Alaska, and a threatened species tag is just the ticket to make it happen."

Answer 2

Polar bears can swim quite well, so unless they end up trapped on a small piece of ice without any larger areas within swimming distance, they won't drown.

As ice breaks up, they will generally move toward land. The problem is that this will shorten their prime hunting season, since their best hunting is done on the ice. That will reduce the amount of body fat they can store for the long winter, which will in turn hurt their chances of survival and lower their chances to reproduce.

Answer 3

Polar bears can swim pretty well.

But they can't hunt while they're in the water.  So, the lack of ice causes starvation.  Since mothers feed their young, if they starve, so do the cubs.

This is far uglier than people imagine.

Answer 4

Often they are trapped on broken pieces of ice that floats away and slowly melts.  By the time the bear decides to swim for it, it is too late and the bear drowns.

Answer 5

I think Al Gore should go live with the Polar Bears to study them like that douche "Grizzly Man", maybe one of the bears will eat Gore!

Answer 6

the ice is currently quite thick and even if it did all melt how do you think that the polar bears survived the last melt, they aren't a new species

Answer 7

There can be only the most strongest I believe if the bear is not strong enough it will die and probably disappears from the earth

it must be revolutionary to the new weather

Answer 8

polar bears arnt gonna die just because the ice is melting, its not like they go off for a hunt then cant come back because all the ice has melted. the ice melting in the arctic is a serious problem because its happening slowly over a long period of time and is irreversible and will make sea levels rise all over the world, not just because polar bears live on it. by time the ice completely melts, the whole world would have drowned from the sea rising so much by then, the polar bears will likely be the last survivers!

Answer 9

Penguins are safe for the near future, but polar bears are in big trouble. The North Pole simply be part of the ocean during summer months in as little as a decade. Some polar bears in Northern Canada will be ok, but others farther north will drown

These bears are actually good swimmers, but they have limits and will eventually drown from exhaustion in the open ocean.

Answer 10

http://www.defenders.org/wildlife_and_ha...