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Climate change is hitting the Arctic faster and harder than previously thought. Click here to read more, or click here to download a copy of the report, 'Arctic Climate Impact Science, an update since ACIA' [pdf, 3.27 MB]
Latest polar bear news
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23 Oct 2009
Alaska critical habitat for polar bears declared
WWF applauds the announcement of the proposed designation of key areas of polar bear habitat across Alaska by the US Department of the Interior. The requirement for the identification of 'critical habitat' was triggered by the listing of polar bears as threatened under the US Endangered Species Act in 2008.
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07 Jul 2009
Arctic warming sees more polar bear populations threatened
The world’s top experts have just confirmed that Arctic warming is continuing its ravages of polar bear populations. The Polar Bear Specialist Group of the International Union of the Conservation of Nature has added to its list of declining polar bear populations.
Downloads
- Effects of climate change on polar bears 629 KB pdf
- Facts and Fallacies about Polar Bears 400 KB pdf
- Polar Bears at Risk 373 KB pdf
- Polar bear tagging 2.97 MB mpg
- The Future of Polar Bears 13.61 MB mov
An international collection of many of the world’s top climate scientists, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has confirmed that people are causing climate change. The impacts of this change are felt first and worst in the Arctic home of the polar bear.
In the Arctic, dramatic climate change impacts are already being seen, and more are predicted. It seems the effects of climate change in the Arctic are occurring even faster than anticipated. The Arctic is losing sea ice 30 or more years ahead of projections made only a couple of years ago, and posted record lows in coverage in 2007 and a record low in age and thickness in winter of 2007/8.
Climate change is driving profound change in all arctic systems, affecting the movements and numbers of fish and birds, the size and flow of rivers and lakes, and the types of vegetation and animals found in the Arctic.
Scientists now speculate that the Arctic may be close to a “tipping point” (the point where, because of climate change, natural systems may experience sudden, rapid and possibly irreversible change).
Indigenous witnesses
Arctic indigenous communities are already noticing some of these changes: warmer winters, earlier break-up of ice in the spring, and thinner ice year round. This traditional knowledge supports scientific evidence:
Models based on the latest information suggest that arctic sea ice will completely disappear during the summer months between 2013 and 2040.
These are dramatic and rapid changes. A slight shift in temperature, bringing averages above freezing, will completely alter the character of this region.
Where once ice covered the seas and permafrost stabilised the ground, open water and large tracts of barren land will dominate. The consequences for all arctic species will be severe.
In the southern range of polar bears, for example the Hudson and James Bays of Canada, sea ice is now melting earlier in the spring and forming later in the autumn.
The time bears have on the ice, storing up energy for the summer and autumn when there is little available food, is becoming shorter.
Decline in polar bears' health
As the periods without food become longer, the overall body condition of these polar bears declines. This is particularly serious for bears that are pregnant or have cubs, and for the cubs themselves. In Hudson Bay, scientists have found the main cause of death for cubs to be either lack of food or lack of fat on nursing mothers.
For every week earlier the ice breaks up in Hudson Bay, bears come ashore roughly 10 kg (22 lbs) lighter and in poorer condition. Rising temperatures in the southern Arctic, therefore, mean less sea ice, leading to less healthy bears.
Reduced body condition can lead to lower reproduction rates, which in the long run could lead to local extinction.
This situation will likely extend to other parts of the Arctic, unless governments and people take urgent action to halt climate change.
In the Arctic, dramatic climate change impacts are already being seen, and more are predicted. It seems the effects of climate change in the Arctic are occurring even faster than anticipated. The Arctic is losing sea ice 30 or more years ahead of projections made only a couple of years ago, and posted record lows in coverage in 2007 and a record low in age and thickness in winter of 2007/8.
Climate change is driving profound change in all arctic systems, affecting the movements and numbers of fish and birds, the size and flow of rivers and lakes, and the types of vegetation and animals found in the Arctic.
Scientists now speculate that the Arctic may be close to a “tipping point” (the point where, because of climate change, natural systems may experience sudden, rapid and possibly irreversible change).
Indigenous witnesses
Arctic indigenous communities are already noticing some of these changes: warmer winters, earlier break-up of ice in the spring, and thinner ice year round. This traditional knowledge supports scientific evidence:
- Air temperatures in the Arctic have on average increased by about 5°C over the last 100 years.
- Arctic sea ice extent has decreased by 14% since the 1970s.
Models based on the latest information suggest that arctic sea ice will completely disappear during the summer months between 2013 and 2040.
These are dramatic and rapid changes. A slight shift in temperature, bringing averages above freezing, will completely alter the character of this region.
Where once ice covered the seas and permafrost stabilised the ground, open water and large tracts of barren land will dominate. The consequences for all arctic species will be severe.
In the southern range of polar bears, for example the Hudson and James Bays of Canada, sea ice is now melting earlier in the spring and forming later in the autumn.
The time bears have on the ice, storing up energy for the summer and autumn when there is little available food, is becoming shorter.
Decline in polar bears' health
As the periods without food become longer, the overall body condition of these polar bears declines. This is particularly serious for bears that are pregnant or have cubs, and for the cubs themselves. In Hudson Bay, scientists have found the main cause of death for cubs to be either lack of food or lack of fat on nursing mothers.
For every week earlier the ice breaks up in Hudson Bay, bears come ashore roughly 10 kg (22 lbs) lighter and in poorer condition. Rising temperatures in the southern Arctic, therefore, mean less sea ice, leading to less healthy bears.
Reduced body condition can lead to lower reproduction rates, which in the long run could lead to local extinction.
This situation will likely extend to other parts of the Arctic, unless governments and people take urgent action to halt climate change.