Polar bears aren't endangered by global warming?

Question

I've heard people saying this, I absolutely don't believe it, but, would like to do some research on the matter. Would anyone like to point me in the direction of the website that started these rumors?

Answer 1

Temperatures are increasing rapidly especially in Arctic, home of polar bears. As a result of global warming ice is melting away; the worst scientific predictions estimate that in year 2040 all ice on Arctic will melt away unless some ecological miracle happens.Polar bears totally depend upon the Arctic sea ice because only these icy conditions can enable their successful hunting and surviving, and therefore can't survive loss of the ice that will undoubtedly happen if this global warming phenomenon continues. Some negative consequences have been already noticed by scientists: thinner bears, decreased reproduction rate and reduced juvenile survival.

Answer 2

There is a myth that polar bear populations today are much larger than they were 30 years ago.  While this may be true (there weren't good polar bear population studies 30 years ago), it would be because polar bear hunting has been severely curtailed, not because the climate has become better for them.

A good interview with a biologist studying Canadian polar bear populations is linked below, and I think answers your question perfectly.

Answer 3

Fears that two-thirds of the world's polar bears will die off in the next 50 years are overblown, says Mitchell ­Taylor, the Government of Nunavut's director of wildlife research.

"I think it's naïve and presumptuous," Taylor said of the report, released by U.S. Geological Survey on Friday, which warns that many of the world's polar bears will die as sea ice vanishes due to a warming climate.

"As the sea ice goes, so go the polar bears," said Steve Amstrup, who led the study.

But Taylor says that's not the case. He points to Davis Strait, one of the southern-most roaming grounds of polar bears. According to the USGS, Davis Strait ought to be among the first places where polar bears will starve due to shrinking seasonal sea ice, which scientists say will deprive the bears of a vital platform to hunt seals.

Yet "Davis Strait is crawling with polar bears," Taylor said. "It's not safe to camp there. They're fat. The mothers have cubs. The cubs are in good shape."

http://www.nunatsiaq.com/archives/2007/7...

http://scienceandpublicpolicy.org/images...

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/200...

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

Answer 4

I don't know of a website, but I did see a documentary on National Geographic Channel not to long ago, about a month ago, and they indicated that this was true.  Go to their website and maybe you could find something there.

Answer 5

The IUCN lists polar bears as "vulnerable", which is one better than endangered, but still threatened. The most significant threat is climate change, and the IUCN rating is only likely to get worse(1).

The US, one of the most backward governments in the world when it comes to the environment, agrees with the IUCN on this, and even went so far as to say that polar bears are likely to be in danger of extinction in the near future(2).

What's the point in asking a question if you "absolutely don't believe" the answer anyway? May as well continue along with your head in the sand. Luckily, climate deniers are also extremely vulnerable to extinction in the near future.

Answer 6

I have no idea where an idiotic statement like that could have originated.  I urge them (and everyone actually) to watch the Discovery Channel  "Planet Earth" series.

When they finish crying, they can then try to PROVE the garbage that spewith from thine mouths.