Climate Change Effects Polar Bears

Question

The claim made by earth.org creates a major statement for the readers to comprehend, "Polar bears rely on sea ice to hunt for food, however, with sea ice melting as a result of global warming, polar bears are more likely to go hungry due to lack of hunting ground availability." For centuries global warming has effected earth negatively and especially the animals in every environment. Since this topic gets talked about so often, it could be considered as a generalization, but it the greenhouse gases are effecting every polar bear that exists today in Svalbard, Norway, Canada, and Alaska.

Answer 1

This is true. The source of this claim is Earth.Org, an environmental news website with reliable information pertaining to the environment. The article claims that polar bears are negatively impacted by today's severe climate change, and that this could lead to their extinction.

The study that is cited in this article comes from Nature.com, another reliable environment information website. The main basis of this study is;

"Our model captures demographic trends observed during 1979–2016, showing that recruitment and survival impact thresholds may already have been exceeded in some subpopulations. It also suggests that, with high greenhouse gas emissions, steeply declining reproduction and survival will jeopardize the persistence of all but a few high-Arctic subpopulations by 2100."

Link: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-020-0818-9

This is also backed up by World Animal Protection, 

"According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the Arctic is warming at twice the rate of the rest of the world, causing sea ice to shrink by 13% per decade. This reduction in sea ice has a direct impact on the hunting and mating habits of polar bears, as they rely on the ice to reach their prey. When sea ice retreats in the summer months, polar bears are forced to swim long distances in search of food, resulting in energy loss and malnutrition. In some areas, polar bears are also seen scavenging for food in human settlements, increasing the risk of human-bear conflicts."

Link: https://www.worldanimalprotection.us/latest/blogs/how-climate-change-threatening-polar-bear-populations/

Answer 2

The claim is true. Polar bears need sea ice to travel, hunt seals, mate, and even rest. Without the ice, they can’t reach their main food source. The World Wildlife Fund explains that sea ice is super important for polar bears, and National Geographic says that when it melts, polar bears can’t hunt as successfully and can lose a lot of energy.

When the ice melts earlier in the year and freezes later, or when it’s thin and broken up, polar bears have to spend more time on land or swim longer distances. This means they have less time to hunt and get the fat they need to survive. The US Geological Survey says that in some areas, polar bears now spend up to 60–70 days on shore, compared to only about 20 days in the 1980s. This makes it harder for them to stay healthy, have cubs, and survive overall.

Some regions, like Svalbard in Norway, Canada, and Alaska, are especially affected by melting sea ice. Studies show that habitat loss is even hurting polar bear genetics and population diversity in areas like the Barents Sea. Overall, polar bears are struggling because their hunting grounds are disappearing, which makes it more likely for them to go hungry. This shows that climate change is seriously affecting Arctic animals in a real and measurable way.