It’s estimated that there are as many 25,000 polar bears alive today worldwide. But thanks to global warming, and its impact on their habitat, the U.S. Geological Survey predicts we could lose two-thirds of them by 2050! Already they’re feeling the impact, and a year in the life of a polar bear family will never be the same. Here’s an overview on a year in the life of a polar bear.
Spring
It’s April and the courtship has begun. The male polar bear sets his sights on the female and tracks her as far as 60 miles away. He fights other males to be with her, and the two of them spend the next week together starting their family.
Summer
From May until August, the fertile egg inside the mother sits dormant while she eats enough to gain 350 pounds. It sounds like a lot, but it’s 100 pounds lighter than she’d like to be when carrying her babies. This year the pack ice melts three weeks earlier than usual and the ringed seals she hunts from the ice edge are harder to find.
Autumn
Unable to hunt when the ice breaks up, Mama polar bear digs a maternity den where she enters a dormant state. Meanwhile, Papa polar bear is still out there. The ringed seals he usually eats are difficult to catch, as the edge of the pack ice he normally hunts from is gone.
Winter
Born blind in December, and less than two pounds a piece, the cubs stay in the den nursing on their mother’s milk. In mid-February the three of them emerge, and Mama polar bear finally gets her first meal in months. Within two weeks they all begin the long walk to the edge of the sea ice, only this year it’s smaller than usual. Finding food is harder than expected. Mama and the cubs are getting by, but Papa polar bear drowns swimming further than the 40 miles he’s accustomed to looking for food.
With four seasons like that, it’s no wonder the polar bear is now listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. Unfortunately, there’s a loophole in the listing. According to Defenders of Wildlife,
“The administration has made it clear with its 4(d) rule that the ESA … will provide no protection whatsoever against emissions of greenhouse gases that are causing the rise in global temperatures that directly threaten the polar bear.”
Defenders of Wildlife is planning on challenging that loophole in court. The Climate Security Act could have made a difference, but it recently failed in the Senate. Defenders asks that you let your Senators know you want truly comprehensive global warming legislation like the Climate Security Act and that you adopt a polar bear out of climate change today.
Source: BecauseAction.com
