Effects Of Climate Change On Polar Bears
The magnitude of the effects of climate change on polar bears is still unknown; but the truth is that more and more we see images of hungry bears. In this scenario, scientists seem to be certain that this could mean the end of polar bears in a short period of time.
The polar bear that moved the world
The latest photos by Cristina Mittermeier and Paul Nicklen, published by National Geographic, are just another portrait of hungry bears in areas where you can barely see snow. The polar bear needs a lot of animal protein and fat to maintain its thick body, which is what allows it to survive in the polar cold.
Some have criticized the photographers for not intervening, which certainly ended with the animal’s death. However, they insist on the danger of approaching an animal in this state and on the impossibility of asking for help. The best they could do was film the images that allow us not to forget this terrible and avoidable event.
Effect of climate change on polar bears
Polar bears rely heavily on the ice sheets that float in the ocean. Without ice, it is very difficult to catch any seals or sea lions, which are their main prey and which, increasingly, they catch less often. Seals are excellent swimmers and for these predators it is impossible to catch them if they are not lying placidly on the ice shelves.
This forces them to travel hundreds of miles in search of food, bringing them closer to human populations. These animals are able to consume the corpses of whales and other cetaceans, and even rummage through people’s garbage, something that is seen in these images that, once again, traveled around the world, and became a symbol of the fight against climate change. .
Climate change in polar bears doesn’t just cause them problems to feed. While heat is thought to be another of its threats, rising temperatures at the moment for this bear are not much of a problem. However, the loss of fragments of frozen surface and the reduction of its habitat, causes its ecosystem to disappear at a dizzying pace.
The effect of climate change on polar bears is not the only human consequence threatening this species, as scientists warn, pollution and the presence of plastics are beginning to affect the endocrine system of these animals. Also the consumption of fish contaminated with mercury is another danger for polar bears.
the latest polar bears
According to conservation associations, there are fewer than 25,000 wild polar bears, and in recent years we’ve been losing many to climate change. In fact, the polar bear has been considered an endangered species since 2008 and has joined an increasingly endangered list of animals.
There are fears that polar climate change will cause wild populations of these bears to disappear by 2050, creating a more uncertain future than that of other traditionally more threatened species such as the panda. Paul, one of the photographers who portrayed the last moments of this polar bear, clearly knows the causes of its decline.
The photographer advocates that we start fighting climate change, and not just through the law. Changing our intake of meat and consumer goods seems more necessary than ever to avert a catastrophe that is represented in the last steps of this predator, the largest currently on the Earth’s surface.
The images, popularized on social networks, continue to stir consciences. But let’s see if they can completely change human consciousness and bring about real change to defend these animals.
