Polar Bear's global warming

Introduction

The polar bear (Ursus maritimus) is a bear native largely within the Arctic circle encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the world's largest land carnivore and also the largest bear, together with the omnivorous Kodiak bear, which is approximately the same size. An adult male weighs around 350-680 kg (770-1,500 lb), while an adult female is about half that size. Although it is closely related to the brown bear, it has evolved to occupy a narrow ecological niche, with many body characteristics adapted for cold temperatures, for moving across snow, ice, and open water, and for hunting the seals which make up most of its diet. Although most polar bears are born on land, they spend most of their time at sea (hence their scientific name meaning "maritime bear") and can hunt consistently only from sea ice, so spend much of the year on the frozen sea.( Bruemmer, 17)

Discussion

Last year, the Secretary of the Interior, Dirk Kempthorne, proposed adding Polar Bears to the threatened species list. The decision will be made whether or not to include Polar Bears on the list in January of 2008. Polar bear deaths due to global warming are of increasing concern, and new studies speculate that Polar Bears may face possible extinction. Most dangerous is the fact that as global warming increases, Polar Bears will have a difficult time finding food. In fact, numerous polar bears are feeling the effects of a shortage of food and are facing starvation.( Matthews, 126)

There are an estimated 20,000 Polar Bears in the wild and they depend upon the arctic weather for their livelihood. Today, there are many accounts of Polar Bear, global warming deaths attributed to drowning. The Polar Bear is doomed if something isn't done to reverse the dangers of global warming. Polar Bears depend upon the natural habitat of the Arctic, however global warming has contributed to the growing loss of Arctic Ice. In fact, polar bears have been photographed clinging to tiny ice formations as their natural environment simply melts away, leaving them at the mercy of a climate that they cannot survive in.( Matthews, 127)

In fact, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is currently determining if they should place the Polar Bear on the Endangered Species list due to the many polar bear deaths due to global warming.

As it currently stands, the Polar Bear is not an endangered species but a threatened one. What this means, is that at any time, the Polar Bears habitat could melt away, causing the Polar Bear to face hardships that it has never previously experienced. At any moment, the Polar Bear could change from being threatened to endangered, and ultimately face extinction.( Hemstock, 78)

However, there is hope. Since the Polar Bear is threatened, there is still much that we can do to help prevent irreversible tragedies from taking place and cause more global warming. Polar bear habitats must be preserved, protected, and established.

The Polar Bear is adapted ...