Sea ice has been in a decline recently, and that is very bad news for polar bears. They conduct much of their lives on sea ice, including locating mates and reproducing. ‘Sea ice extent averaged for the month of April 2013 was 14.37 million square kilometers (5.54 million square miles). This is 630,000 square kilometers
Polar bear populations could be more than cut in half in a single year with only one extreme melting event in the Arctic, according to a new repot from the University of Alberta. The report is strongly urging the relevant governments to actively begin planning for the conservation of the animal, specifically with regards to
Dear Ms. Rimel, I am an independent writer with an interest in environmental issues. I am a father, and an informed citizen. The credentials I hold as a writer and citizen are no less important than those of yours, which, I presume, may be bred from similar motivation: intellectual curiosity and, mostly, a committed
In the past few weeks, polar bears have been showing up with a loss of fur and skin lesions in the southern Beaufort Sea region of Alaska. The causes are currently unknown, but they don’t appear to have any other health problems. USGS scientists have taken tissue and blood samples from the bears to
This month marks the 23rd anniversary of the disastrous Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound, Alaska. When the Valdez ran aground, more than 11 million gallons of oil gushed out into the fragile eco-system of the sound and onto the nearby beaches. The oil covered 1,300 miles of coastline and 11,000 square miles
Yeah, that’s not actually what the baby polar bear in this video is saying, but that’s my interpretation. This video, filmed just before Christmas, apparently, is one of the cutest animal videos I’ve ever seen 😀 h/t Climate Denial Crock of the Week
Due to climate change causing Arctic sea ice to rapidly melt, polar bears are becoming stuck on land and having to resort to cannibalism for food and survival.
Some top activism stories from the past week or so that I haven’t been able to get to but deserve a big share: Two Finland animal activists who were being prosecuted for undercover investigations of factory farms have been found not guilty on almost all charges. Good news! A climate justice youth caravan of approximately 200
In a very sad story, a teenage boy, 17-year-old Horatio Chapple, was mauled to death and 4 others were injured by a polar bear at Von Postbreen glacier on Spitsbergen Island – a Norwegian island in the Arctic circle — this week. The polar bear came into the boys’ tent, apparently, and was eventually shot dead by an expedition leader.
Here are some top animal stories of the week (other than what we’ve covered already). Feel free to drop more stories or videos in the comments below if you have them.
A study tracked a female polar bear that swam for nine days straight covering over 426 miles. This long journey is the longest ever recorded for a polar bear.
You can’t be surprised, given that our Congress people seem completely mad (and not just because of NCAA basketball), but, yes, they really are attacking the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and a number of iconic animals.
Luckily, Earthjustice, a leading non-profit public interest law firm dedicated to protecting the Earth and its resources, is working hard to rally U.S. citizens and stop the assault. And it’s come up with a really innovative, fun way of doing so.
Global Warming is a serious issue that many people just don’t understand. Here is some very touching videos from the polar bears perspective. The polar bears are some of the first to feel the effects of global warming. As you watch the videos think about what you can do to help fight global warming, and help save the polar bears.
The following is an action alert I received from Oceana. I get a lot of action alerts like this and while I think they are important and I sign them, I don’t normally include them as posts on here. But from time to time I receive one that I think needs a full re-post. Like
Here we go again, our weekly link drop of global weirding stories we didn’t cover. For the numerous stories we did cover, check out: The year of living dangerously. Masters: “The stunning extremes we witnessed gives me concern that our climate is showing the early signs of instability” A year of deadly record-smashing weather extremes
Here’s our roundup of interesting (good & bad) environmental and wildlife news of the week, other than what we’ve covered already. White House: Polar Bears Not ‘Endangered’ The Obama administration is sticking with a George W. Bush-era decision to deny polar bears endangered species status. In a court filing Wednesday, the Fish and Wildlife Service
The seasonal loss of ice in the Arctic which scientists believe will eventually lead to ice-free summers could have both beneficial and negative effects for the mammals that have over millennia adapted to life in the cold and harsh environment, according to a new research paper published in the December 15 issue of the journal
Much has been made about the possibility of tipping points in Earth’s environment; points of change which will not allow for any turning back no matter the effort put in. One of the most hyped of these was the Arctic and the possibility of a total loss of ice during summer. A new study led
Rather than wait until I do my global warming news of the week wrap-up to share this, here is another excellent video by top climate de-crocker, Peter Sinclair. While polar bears are one obvious species endangered by climate change, there are more than a few. Humans are causing the 6th mass extinction in the history
So far 46,000 online signatures have been gathered by the Center for Biological Diversity to support the re-writing of the Bush administration’s regulations which allow for the emission of greenhouse gases to not be considered as a threat to wildlife habitats and wildlife like the polar bear, even though global warming is clearly harming polar bears. They also removed
The US Fish and Wildlife Service rejected an attempt by trophy hunters to re-allow shipments of polar bear parts from countries where it is legal to kill the embattled species. [social_buttons] The Humane Society of the United States lobbied the agency hard against the proposed reopening of the trade. The animals are listed as a
Score one for the environment – at least temporarily. Shell Oil announced that it will not be drilling off the Alaskan coast in the Beaufort Sea in 2009 as planned. This decision comes after a November court ruling which determined that Shell had erroneously been given permission to drill without properly assessing the environmental impact
Sarah Palin has said many times that the polar bear habitat is safe, and there’s no need to classify them as a “threatened” species. Yet today comes word that as the Arctic sea ice melts, polar bears are finding less and less food sources and are beginning to cannibalize one another.
For the first time in recorded human history, the Arctic has become an island to itself, completely separate from the landmasses that the Arctic ice normally stretches out onto. This distressingly historic event has been captured by NASA satellites, depicting both the Northwest and Northeast passages as ice free. For the past few years we
There is a person who’s columns I regularly read, because I often find it fun to disagree with him. This person is George Will, conservative commentator and phony-baloney. I call him a phony-baloney, because it seems to fit with the old-fashioned bow tie he sometimes chooses to wear on television programs like Sunday’s political talk
With their recent addition to the US Endangered Species Act list, polar bears have sent a wake-up call to water managers in South Florida. Added to the ESA list on Wednesday, the polar bears will finally receive a measure of official attention and protection, albeit a little late. However, joining the environmental awareness last Wednesday,
It was just over a month ago that I last wrote about the fate of the polar bears. The US Fish and Wildlife Service had just announced that they needed more time to determine whether the beautiful creatures should be put on the endangered species list. Conservationists were up in arms, and many were pointing
