Climate Change to Slash Polar Bear Numbers by 2050, Red List Says - Rawan For Media Artistic and Production
Polar
bears could see their numbers dwindle by nearly a third by mid-century,
a top conservation body said Thursday, warning climate change poses the
greatest threat to the king of the Arctic.
The
International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) said a
reassessment of the status of the polar bear in its famous Red List of
threatened species confirmed the giant mammal's status as "vulnerable".
IUCN
said there were currently between 22,000 and 31,000 polar bears
globally, but warned their numbers were likely to shrink fast, with the
rapid loss of their sea ice habitat due to global warming.
"We're
expecting more than a 30 percent loss over the coming 35-40 years,"
Dena Cator of IUCN's Species Survival Commission told AFP.
The
travails of polar bears, which no longer have as many floating ocean
perches from which to hunt seals, has been well documented.
IUCN
pointed out that if more than five months out of the year are ice-free,
the bears are forced to fast for longer, "which is likely to lead to
increased reproductive failure and starvation in some areas."
This is alarming, as recent studies show Arctic sea ice is disappearing faster than most climate models had predicted.
Some
parts of the Arctic are now expected to cross the five-month-ice-free
threshold by the middle of the century, while the Canadian Arctic
archipelago is expected to take until the end of the century to reach
that point.
"Based
on the latest, most robust science, this assessment provides evidence
that climate change will continue to seriously threaten polar bear
survival in the future," IUCN chief Inger Andersen said in the
statement.
- Canary in the coal mine -
Warming
Arctic temperatures could also reduce the habitat and increase the
chances of disease among the species polar bears prey on, including ice
seals, the organisation warned.
Environmentalists said the IUCN findings were not surprising but highlighted the urgency of reining in climate change.
Sybille
Klenzendorf, a senior biologist in the World Wildlife Fund's species
conservation division, appealed for immediate action from the world
leaders scheduled to meet for a key UN climate summit in Paris in a few
weeks.
"We
need climate change action in Paris to slow the warming," she told AFP,
warning that the polar bear's decline was symbolic of the dangers
climate change poses to the planet as a whole.
The
polar bear, she warned, "is the canary in the coal mine. These changes
are coming and we need to act, and hopefully there is still time to
change the situation."
Klenzendorf
and other environmentalists meanwhile stressed that climate change was
impacting the world's 19 polar bear populations differently, with those
furthest south suffering the most.
Bear
populations in Canada's western Hudson Bay and Norway's Svalbard
archipelago are among those most at risk, according to Magnus Andersen,
an expert at the Norwegian Polar Institute.
Populations
further north are far less vulnerable and are in some cases even
benefitting from the changes brought by a warming climate, he told AFP.
The
thinning and more broken ice creates more biomass, which helps increase
the fish stocks, providing more and bigger fish, which in turn fatten
and grow populations of seals -- polar bears' favourite meal, he pointed
out.
Beyond shrinking sea ice habitats, climate change is also increasing other threats against polar bears.
The
retreat of the polar ice cap has opened up sea routes through the
Arctic and has allowed more resource exploration, thus increasing
pollution.
IUCN
warned that oil development in the region poses numerous threats,
ranging from oil spills to increased human-bear interaction.
"Whilst
sea ice loss is the major threat to polar bears, the full range of
current and potential threats must be considered in polar bear
management plans," said Dag Vongraven of IUCN's polar bear specialist
group.
In
early September this year, countries bordering the Arctic agreed a
10-year Circumpolar Action Plan for Polar Bears aimed at ensuring the
survival of the majestic creatures in the wild.
The polar bear is not the only species in trouble.
IUCN's updated Red List covers 79,837 assessed species, of which 23,250 are threatened with extinction.
By AFP, 20 hours 33 minutes ago
bears could see their numbers dwindle by nearly a third by mid-century,
a top conservation body said Thursday, warning climate change poses the
greatest threat to the king of the Arctic.
The
International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) said a
reassessment of the status of the polar bear in its famous Red List of
threatened species confirmed the giant mammal's status as "vulnerable".
IUCN
said there were currently between 22,000 and 31,000 polar bears
globally, but warned their numbers were likely to shrink fast, with the
rapid loss of their sea ice habitat due to global warming.
"We're
expecting more than a 30 percent loss over the coming 35-40 years,"
Dena Cator of IUCN's Species Survival Commission told AFP.
The
travails of polar bears, which no longer have as many floating ocean
perches from which to hunt seals, has been well documented.
IUCN
pointed out that if more than five months out of the year are ice-free,
the bears are forced to fast for longer, "which is likely to lead to
increased reproductive failure and starvation in some areas."
This is alarming, as recent studies show Arctic sea ice is disappearing faster than most climate models had predicted.
Some
parts of the Arctic are now expected to cross the five-month-ice-free
threshold by the middle of the century, while the Canadian Arctic
archipelago is expected to take until the end of the century to reach
that point.
"Based
on the latest, most robust science, this assessment provides evidence
that climate change will continue to seriously threaten polar bear
survival in the future," IUCN chief Inger Andersen said in the
statement.
- Canary in the coal mine -
Warming
Arctic temperatures could also reduce the habitat and increase the
chances of disease among the species polar bears prey on, including ice
seals, the organisation warned.
Environmentalists said the IUCN findings were not surprising but highlighted the urgency of reining in climate change.
Sybille
Klenzendorf, a senior biologist in the World Wildlife Fund's species
conservation division, appealed for immediate action from the world
leaders scheduled to meet for a key UN climate summit in Paris in a few
weeks.
"We
need climate change action in Paris to slow the warming," she told AFP,
warning that the polar bear's decline was symbolic of the dangers
climate change poses to the planet as a whole.
The
polar bear, she warned, "is the canary in the coal mine. These changes
are coming and we need to act, and hopefully there is still time to
change the situation."
Klenzendorf
and other environmentalists meanwhile stressed that climate change was
impacting the world's 19 polar bear populations differently, with those
furthest south suffering the most.
Bear
populations in Canada's western Hudson Bay and Norway's Svalbard
archipelago are among those most at risk, according to Magnus Andersen,
an expert at the Norwegian Polar Institute.
Populations
further north are far less vulnerable and are in some cases even
benefitting from the changes brought by a warming climate, he told AFP.
The
thinning and more broken ice creates more biomass, which helps increase
the fish stocks, providing more and bigger fish, which in turn fatten
and grow populations of seals -- polar bears' favourite meal, he pointed
out.
Beyond shrinking sea ice habitats, climate change is also increasing other threats against polar bears.
The
retreat of the polar ice cap has opened up sea routes through the
Arctic and has allowed more resource exploration, thus increasing
pollution.
IUCN
warned that oil development in the region poses numerous threats,
ranging from oil spills to increased human-bear interaction.
"Whilst
sea ice loss is the major threat to polar bears, the full range of
current and potential threats must be considered in polar bear
management plans," said Dag Vongraven of IUCN's polar bear specialist
group.
In
early September this year, countries bordering the Arctic agreed a
10-year Circumpolar Action Plan for Polar Bears aimed at ensuring the
survival of the majestic creatures in the wild.
The polar bear is not the only species in trouble.
IUCN's updated Red List covers 79,837 assessed species, of which 23,250 are threatened with extinction.
By AFP, 20 hours 33 minutes ago
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