POLAR BEARS
“Arctic sea ice plays an important role in our climate; it acts as the Earth’s air conditioner.”
The first time I saw a polar bear was in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada, overlooking Western Hudson Bay. I spotted the bear standing along the coast. He sauntered over to the tundra buggy and sat just a few metres away, nose in the air, looking right up at us. That experience inspired and forever changed me.
Polar bears are keenly intelligent and endlessly fascinating to photograph and watch. The fact that such a giant bear can make a living on top of a frozen ocean is fascinating to me. Many people think of frozen landscapes as empty, but polar bears are a reminder that these frozen landscapes are teeming with life.
Polar bears are unlike any other bear on earth in that the frozen ocean is literally essential to their survival. Sea ice forms the base of the Arctic food chain. Tiny channels in the ice filter light, creating an environment where algae grows, which feeds what some in the science community call ‘little squiggly creatures’. These in turn feed the fish, which feed the blubber-rich seals and whales, which feed the polar bears.
As the top predator, polar bears are an indicator species. Impacts on polar bears will consequently almost certainly mean that all other species that depend on Arctic sea ice are being impacted as well. Yet many of these species live under the ice where it’s almost impossible to study them.
Arctic sea ice
The greatest threat to polar bears is sea ice loss due to climate warming. Polar bears need sea ice to travel, hunt, mate and sometimes den. But Arctic sea ice has been declining at a rate of 13 per cent per decade relative to the 1981-2010 average.
Changes in the sea ice impact the economy, health and ways of life in northern communities. People around the world rely on sea ice. Arctic sea ice plays an important role in our climate: it acts as the Earth’s air conditioner. Ice covering the ocean in the Northern Hemisphere helps regulate ocean temperatures and ocean currents, keeping our planet at a stable temperature. Climate warming is not just about polar bears – it’s about people too.
If we don’t act swiftly to address climate warming, polar bears will be the least of our concerns, as climate impacts will threaten our most basic needs for survival, such as clean air, clean water and food availability. But if we use the tools and resources available to us, and meet the goals set during the Paris Agreement to keep global temperature rise below 2˚C, we can ensure polar bears remain in most of their current range indefinitely. If we vote with the climate in mind and let leaders know we support those who commit to moving away from using fossil fuels for energy and instead switch to renewable energy sources, we can all make a difference.
The challenges polar bears face are challenges we all face. If we work together, we can protect our shared future and ensure polar bears roam the Arctic in generations to come.