Polar Bears Threatened
The Department of the Interior will recommend adding polar bears to the endangered species list, a rare acknowledgment by the Bush administration of the impact of global warming. The world's largest bears depend on ever-shrinking Arctic sea ice for their survival.
The Department of the Interior will recommend adding polar bears to the endangered species list, a rare acknowledgment by the Bush administration of the impact of global warming. The world’s largest bears depend on ever-shrinking Arctic sea ice for their survival.
WAIT BEFORE YOU GO...Washington Post:
The administration’s proposal — which was described by an Interior Department official who spoke on the condition of anonymity — stems from the fact that rising temperatures in the Arctic are shrinking the sea ice that polar bears need for hunting. The official insisted on anonymity because the department will submit the proposal [Wednesday] for publication in the Federal Register, after which it will be subject to public comment for 90 days.
Identifying polar bears as threatened with extinction could have an enormous political and practical impact. As the world’s largest bear and as an object of children’s affection as well as Christmastime Coca-Cola commercials, the polar bear occupies an important place in the American psyche. Because scientists have concluded that carbon dioxide from power-plant and vehicle emissions is helping drive climate change worldwide, putting polar bears on the endangered species list raises the legal question of whether the government would be required to compel U.S. industries to curb their carbon dioxide output.
“We’ve reviewed all the available data that leads us to believe the sea ice the polar bear depends on has been receding,” said the Interior official, who added that U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials have concluded that polar bears could be endangered within 45 years. “Obviously, the sea ice is melting because the temperatures are warmer.”
Northern latitudes are warming twice as rapidly as the rest of the globe, according to a 2004 scientific assessment, and by the end of the century annual ocean temperatures in the Arctic may rise an additional 13 degrees Fahrenheit. As a result, researchers predict that summer sea ice, which polar bears use as a platform to hunt for ringed seals, will decline 50 to 100 percent. Just this month, researchers at the National Center for Atmospheric Research outlined a worst-case scenario in which summer sea ice could disappear by 2040.
This year, the ground feels uncertain — facts are buried and those in power are working to keep them hidden. Now more than ever, independent journalism must go beneath the surface.
At Truthdig, we don’t just report what's happening — we investigate how and why. We follow the threads others leave behind and uncover the forces shaping our future.
Your tax-deductible donation fuels journalism that asks harder questions and digs where others won’t.
Don’t settle for surface-level coverage.
Unearth what matters. Help dig deeper.
Donate now.
TD Original
With a threatening and unpredictable U.S. to the south and a mining scramble in the Arctic, Canada confronts a strange new security landscape.
Environment
The debate over deep-sea mining exposes a contradiction between the country’s proud culture of environmental stewardship and its dependence on the extraction of the ocean’s riches.
Environment
The phrase grabs people's attention, but some scientists argue it does more harm than good.
Environment
In the Canadian Arctic, two ambitious research initiatives try to strengthen climate data through community engagement.
As climate change accelerates and our biosphere begins to collapse, superpowers will jockey for access to the ice cap's natural resources.
The NOAA's annual report on the Arctic contains some terrifying findings. Here are just 5 of the most worrying ones.
You need to be a supporter to comment.
There are currently no responses to this article.
Be the first to respond.