Wildlife

Alaska Polar Bears Now Live on 'Treadmill'

An acceleration in the movement of the Arctic’s sea ice is presenting yet another climate change challenge to polar bears, making them work harder and travel farther just to stay in the same place, according to new research.

The animals have historically just rested beside holes in the ice as they waited for seals to emerge and become their next meal.

But the thinning Arctic sea ice is now drifting more quickly to the west, forcing the bears to become more active to compensate for the movement of the ice.

“In order for an Alaskan polar bear to remain an Alaskan polar bear, it must walk farther or faster to the east on the ‘treadmill,’ or it will end up in Russia,” explained U.S. Geological Survey wildlife biologist David Douglas.

Polar bear waiting for a seal to emerge from a hole in the Arctic sea ice pack.

Global Warming

Emaciated Polar Bear - Reality of Global Warming

Wildlife photographer Kerstin Langenberger captured this shocking photo of a deathly thin and starving polar bear as it struggles to capture food in the melting icecaps. It shows the effects of climate change better than any explanation . . .

Global warming alert as El Niño returns with a vengeance

The world is starting to heat up again, say British scientists, raising speculation that a 15-year slowdown in the rate of global warming could be coming to an end.

A pause in the rate of global temperature rises since the late 1990s has baffled climate scientists and led some to question whether man-made climate change was a serious problem.

But last year was the warmest on record, according to the UN’s World Meteorological Organisation, and scientists at the UK’s Met Office say both this year and 2016 are shaping up to be just as hot.

The strengthening Pacific weather pattern, El Niño, which some US scientists forecast could be the most powerful in years, is likely to be one reason for the rise in temperatures.

California's 'Snow Drought'

In April, statewide measurements of water contents of California’s snowpack -- a major source of water for reservoirs during the summers -- showed that the water content in the snow was only 5 percent of the normal for that date, making it the lowest in a 75-year record. Further analysis of available data has now shown that the situation is much worse than previously estimated.

According to a new study, published Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change, the amount of snow in the Sierra Nevada is now at its lowest level in over 500 years.

Wildlife

Polar bears in peril due to global warming

Polar bears are at risk of dying off if humans don't reverse the trend of global warming, a blunt U.S. government report filed Thursday said.

Greenhouse gas emissions contribute to global warming, which is reducing the amount of summer sea ice in the Arctic. Polar bears use sea ice for feeding, mating and giving birth. The Office of Naval Research said the past eight years have had the eight lowest amounts of summer sea ice on record.

"The single most important step for polar bear conservation is decisive action to address Arctic warming," the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said in a draft recovery plan, part of the process after the agency listed the species as threatened in 2008.

"Short of action that effectively addresses the primary cause of diminishing sea ice, it is unlikely that polar bears will be recovered."

Halting Arctic warming will require a global commitment, said Jenifer Kohout, the Fish and Wildlife Service's regional program manager and a co-chair of the polar bear recovery team.

"In the meantime, the Fish and Wildlife Service and its partners are committed to doing everything within our control to give the bears a chance to survive while we await global action," she said during a teleconference Thursday.

Wildlife

Polar Bears May Become Dependent on Humans for Survival

Polar bears may need to be fed in the wild, housed or relocated by humans within the next few decades to help them survive a warming climate, according to a new report. Climate change has resulted in accelerated loss of Arctic sea ice, which polar bears rely on to hunt for food.

If the Arctic becomes ice-free during summer within the next few decades as predicted, many bears will starve without human intervention.

Some members of the 19 polar bear populations in Canada, Alaska, Greenland, Norway and Russia may even have to be placed in temporary holding compounds until enough ice forms for them to go back out into the wild to hunt.

Currently, none of those countries has plans to help the animals survive the loss of their frozen habitat.

But 12 research scientists from Arctic countries have crafted a crisis management plan designed to save as many of the world’s approximately 20,000 remaining polar bears as possible.

Part of the survival plan would be to have zoos take in as many bears as they can hold.

If none of these options can be taken, they say the only humane choice would be to euthanize bears that would otherwise suffer an agonizing death by starvation.

Wildfires

Wildfires sparked by lightning in Canada's Hudson Bay region are threatening the habitat of polar bears. The fires are destroying old tree roots and frozen soil where females traditionally make their dens.