Polar Bear Expert: "The Entire Ecosystem Is Falling In Front Of Our Eyes"

[hatrack]

EDIT

Have there been any changes in the polar bear population?

The population is doing so much worse. The Churchill population, which is the Western Hudson Bay population, is down by nearly 20 percent. The sea ice is melting, and this summer was the largest melt in the area that we know of. As the temperature of the world goes up, the arctic just keeps melting.

How much has the polar bear population declined?

It looks like we have a 20 to 25 percent decline in the last 10 to 15 years. There are also big declines in the seal population. The entire ecosystem is failing in front of our eyes. By the way, 15 years ago, we were still worried about poaching of polar bears and how that would affect their population, and then we started to watch this habitat melt in front of our eyes in a period of years. Even as the rest of the world said don’t worry, there is no climate change, we were watching the arctic ice melt and melt. It has been there for thousands of years, and it is melting in our lifetimes. That is how I and a lot of other scientists became concerned about climate change.

Is there anything we can do at this point?

I think people are always surprised that their actions, driving their car, buying fruit that comes from another continent, turning on their lights and not turning them off when they leave the room, can have this incredible outsized effect on polar bears in the Arctic. Humans everywhere, collectively, even though these are small actions, can have such an outsized effect on the globe.

EDIT

In Churchill they sedate the bears with dart guns, and put them in “polar bear jail” until the ice freezes and they can continue to hunt for food. Is this the best solution we have at this point?

I think it is. You have a lot of people who have been living with polar bears for many years, and they have the infrastructure, and the bear biologists with their knowledge, and the local native people with their indigenous knowledge. So all of the stake holders from government to indigenous local groups and local trappers who live on the land can have a collaborative discussion. I think Churchill is the model for the world.

EDIT

http://www.mensjournal.com/adventure/articles/plight-of-the-polar-bear-interview-with-polar-bear-town-expert-w450747

[DirkGently]

1. Small changes are good; we need big ones.

Turning out the light in the back bedroom is not a bad idea, but we need some sweeping carbon reduction, and we need it yesterday.

Doesn't look good putting a willfully ignorant clown into the White House at this moment.

[2naSalit]

2. K&R