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Save the Polar Bears From Global Warming Before 2050 Extinction

Polar Bears Swimming

An article featured on tripatlas.com/new a few months ago, “The Extinction of Snowmobiling by 2050,” notes the probable extinction of snowmobiling in flat lands of Canada by 2050, due to global warming and climate change.

In the same vein, we look at one of Earth’s most magnificent and majestic creatures, the Polar Bear, native to the Arctic Ocean and northern seas. In recent years, the polar bear has been upgraded as a vulnerable and at-risk species due primary to global warming, contaminants by oil and gas exploration, as well as hunting.

Danger of Global Warming for Arctic Life and Polar Bears

It is said that 2/3rds or the entire species which is estimated at 22-25,000 currently, will be extinct by 2050 due to loss of habitat and proper hunting environments. Thick platforms of artic ice are needed for the polar bears to hunt seals before going ashore during summer months.

Climate change and global warming are causing temperatures to rise at a rate that is twice as much as the rest of the world. By the end of the century, it is estimated that at least half of the Arctic’s ice will melt, threatening the entire arctic ecosystem. Currently, the Arctic’s ice is shrinking by up to 5% every 10 years.

This gradually diminishes the chance for the bears to store up nourishment each year, as the ice forms later and diminishes earlier. Eventually, it is projected that a shorter hunting season won’t allow the bears to store enough food and nourishment before going ashore and cause the species to decline due to the inability to reproduce.

What Can You Do? Take Action!

From Canada? Sign a petition to Prime Minister Harper: http://www.naturecanada.ca .

From the U.S.? Sign a petition to President Bush. On April 29, 2008, a judge ordered the US Government to make a decision on whether the bears should be put on the Vulnerable Extinction List. Make sure your voice is heard! Click this link to sign: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org .

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Sources:

These statistics have been reported and collaborated by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), National Geographic Magazine, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment, and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

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