US government says climate change putting polar bears at risk

Climate change is destroying vital polar bear habitat, putting the species at risk of extinction, the US government said today as it listed the polar bear as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

The government’s decision clearly indicates that climate change impacts are already threatening the survivability of animals and habitats, and illustrates the urgency of preparing for and adapting to a rapidly changing climate.

“WWF commends the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) for heeding the unequivocal science that the survival of the polar bear is inextricably tied to its Arctic sea ice habitat, which is melting more rapidly than at any other time in recorded human history,” said Margaret Williams, managing director of WWF’s office in Alaska.

“We must take the necessary measures now to help save the polar bear.  The ESA listing is an important first step, but we must also address the underlying cause of climate change: rapidly rising greenhouse gas emissions.”

A victory, but concerns remain

“Today’s decision is a tremendous victory for one of the world’s most iconic and charismatic animals,” said Carter Roberts, president and CEO of WWF-US.  “The other big winner today is sound science, which has clearly trumped politics, providing polar bears a new lease on life.”

Roberts added, “While we applaud today’s announcement, many concerns remain. The 360-page document comes with numerous caveats which we have yet to fully analyse. Interior secretary Dirk Kempthorne was quite explicit in saying, for example, that continued energy production in Alaska remains a priority.

"WWF strongly disagrees with that position and recently became a plaintiff in the litigation challenging the Chukchi lease-sale—a priority area for WWF and home to one of our nation’s two polar bear populations," he said.

Sea ice melting

Sea ice, which polar bears depend on for hunting seals and other prey, melted to record low levels last summer.  The National Snow Ice and Data Centre announced earlier this month that current measurements and projections indicate that the 2008 melt season may also be “extreme”, possibly shattering the record set in 2007.  Some scientists have predicted that the summer Arctic sea ice could be gone entirely as early as 2013.

The decision comes close on the heels of a new WWF report, Arctic Climate Impact Science – An Update Since ACIA, which found that change is occurring in all arctic systems, impacting on the atmosphere and oceans, sea ice and ice sheets, snow and permafrost, as well as species and populations, food webs, ecosystems and human societies.

Melting of arctic sea ice and the Greenland Ice Sheet was found to be severely accelerated, prompting some scientists to discuss whether both may be close to their “tipping point” (the point where, because of climate change, natural systems may experience sudden, rapid and possibly irreversible change).

At the time of publication, Dr Martin Sommerkorn, one of the report’s authors and Senior Climate Change Adviser at WWF International’s Arctic Programme, said: “The magnitude of the physical and ecological changes in the Arctic creates an unprecedented challenge for governments, the corporate sector, community leaders and conservationists to create the conditions under which arctic natural systems have the best chance to adapt.”

He also stated the importance of urgently addressing the underlying causes of these changes: “We need to reduce global emissions of greenhouse gases to levels that will avoid the continued warming of the Arctic and the anticipated resulting disruption of the global climate system,” he said.

A positive step

Today’s decision, however, represents a positive step toward creating conditions under which polar bears inhabiting arctic ecoregions in the US, at least, can better adapt to the physical and ecological challenges they are facing.

“Based on the best available science, if current sea ice trends continue, two-thirds of the world’s polar bears will be lost by 2050,” said Geoffrey York, coordinator of WWF’s Polar Bear Conservation Program. "The threatened species designation will now provide additional legal protections for the bears, including the conservation of critical habitat and the development of a government-supported recovery plan.”

Citing the well-documented loss of sea ice due to climate change, the FWS recommended in September 2006 that the Interior Department list polar bears as threatened under the ESA. The Interior Department was legally required to issue a formal decision on the ESA listing by January 9, 2008, but failed to do so. On April 28, the US District Court for the Northern District of California ordered the Department to issue a formal decision on the listing by May 15.

Overdue announcement

“Today’s announcement is long overdue,” said Williams.  “The delay in listing has opened the door to accelerated oil and gas exploration in the Arctic. In February, the Minerals Management Service (MMS), which is under the jurisdiction of the Interior Department, auctioned off almost 30 million acres of prime polar bear habitat in Alaska’s Chukchi Sea for oil and gas exploration.”

WWF condemns the US decision in February to open the Chukchi Sea to petroleum development;
arctic marine conditions contribute to an oil spill "response gap" that threatens polar bears by effectively limiting the ability to clean up after an oil spill.

WWF is part of a coalition of Alaska native and conservation organisations that filed suit in the federal district court in Alaska, arguing that MMS did not adequately weigh the impacts of oil and gas activities on indigenous communities and wildlife along Alaska’s North Slope.

“We should be taking every action possible to reduce stresses on polar bears, and we believe that oil and gas activities pose formidable risks to the Arctic sea ice ecosystem and the polar bears that inhabit it,” said York.

 
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Background information

* On April 28, 2008, a US District Court ordered the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to issue a decision by 2:00 pm on May 15 on whether to list the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act.

* In February 2008, the Minerals Management Service opened nearly 30 million acres of prime polar habitat to oil and gas exploration.

* In January 2008, the US Fish and Wildlife Service announced a delay in listing the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act.
    
* In December 2007, NASA scientist Dr H Jay Zwally forecasted a total lack of summer sea ice as early as 2012.
    
* In September 2007, following the news that all records for summer sea ice minimum had been broken, the US Geological Survey released a detailed report concluding that the loss of sea ice will likely lead to  localized extinctions of polar bears, with as much of a two-thirds population decline worldwide.
    
* In June 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change confirmed that warming of the world’s climate systems is “unequivocal” and pointed to human activities, such as the 70 percent increase of global heat trapping gases in the last three decades, as a leading cause of the changes.
   
* On December 26, 2006 the Service released a proposal for the listing. Since then, numerous reports have documented the extensive global change due to rising temperatures.

For more information, contact:

Joe Pouliot, Director of Climate and Policy Communications
joe.pouliot@wwfus.org