The day may come very soon where polar bears depend on human hands to feed them. Currently polar bears in the northern hemisphere ranging from Canada, Russia, Greenland and Norway have experienced longer than usual ice free seasons. The underlying issue is formulating a contingency plan for the nations in this potentially eminent outcome. The problem would leave the polar bears searching for food leading them into northern territories amongst populated areas to look for other food options. Without adequate sea ice for enough of the year, many bears will not be able to use the ice and glaciers as a feeding platform for hunting. As a result of this, polar bears will be forced to spend more time fasting on land, where they pose a greater risk to human populations in the Arctic. Polar bear experts Andrew Derocher, Steve Amstrup, Ian Stirling, and nine others say that with Arctic sea ice disappearing far faster than originally estimated. It may sound a bit strange but the plans presented in this week's paper called upon titles with names like “supplemental feeding, translocation, and intentional population reduction” With Arctic sea ice continuing to disappear, these proposals may soon be standard protocol for polar bear protection. Years ago the threats for polar bears consisted of hunting, mining and oil development it seems now that the overbearing threat is climate change. Steve Amstrup emphasizes that the purpose of this information is not to promote one management strategy over another or to suggest that they will all work to help save the polar bears rather "The purpose is to remind the readers, and hopefully policy people, that the long-term future of polar bears is in jeopardy." The problem is that global warming is affecting us much faster than predicted and it is affecting our wildlife and resources even faster. Water levels are rising and it’s happening around the world from the Bengal bay to the Northern Hemisphere. The first step in directing change is having knowledge on the issues.
8 Feb 2013
10:24 a.m.
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