States Chronicle - Latest Breaking World News

Friday, January 22, 2021
Log in
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
  • Investor Relations
  • Privacy
  • Terms of Use
  • Latest News
    • Right Colors for your Skin Tone
    • MOST ACTIVE NASDAQ After-Hours
    • iPhone 5C Release Date
    • Samsung Galaxy S5 Release Date
    • The History of the Atkins Diet

Scientists Debate How To Save Polar Bears

July 21, 2015 By Deborah Cobing Leave a Comment

Email, RSS Follow

How To Save Polar Bears

Earlier this month the US government issued a report warning that the already endangered polar bears may lose a third of their population by the time we reach 2025.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) looked into scientific projections of how pollution will hurt the polar bears’ ability to hunt and reproduce, and found that the accelerating melting of sea ice, due to greenhouse gas emission, is seriously endangering the polar bear population across the world, including the specimens found in Alaska.

In fact, the only polar bears that may have a chance of surviving are the ones living in a region north of Canada, where summer ice is known for lasting longer than anywhere else.

Floating sea ice is a platform that serves as a valuable tool for polar bears when they go hunting for fish or when they ring in seals. On top this, they also use the platform for reproducing and for saving energy when traveling great distances, as swimming could prove dangerous in such a scenario.

For their project, the researchers from the US Geological Survey (USGS) worked with updated scientific models which calculated how the levels of greenhouse gasses will continue to affect the planet in the upcoming years if people don’t take steps to keep them under control.

They looked into two (2) separate scenarios – how the polar bear numbers would evolve if greenhouse gas emission stayed the same and did not progress any further, and how the polar bear numbers would evolve if greenhouse gas emission continued to increase.

What they found was that even if greenhouse gas emission levels remained as they are right now, the polar bears’ future would still look grim, as the damage that’s already been inflicted on the planet is affecting them tremendously. Polar bears in Alaska, Norway and Russia are expected to start losing members in 10 to 15 years (between 2025 and 2030).

Possibly an even worse finding is that polar bears will not recover from the loss any time soon. Their population is expected to stay on decline al through the century as projections for the year 2100 did not show any improvement in the polar bears’ numbers.

Another recent study also demonstrated that polar bears would not be able to adapt to life on the land. The species would refuse to consume land-based food if floating sea ice disappeared entirely and they were left without this hunting tool.

Upon hearing the news, scientists have started brain storming ideas that could save the polar bears. A new paper titled “Rapid ecosystem change and polar bear conservation” stresses that people clearly lack a plan and policy aimed at helping polar bears.

The experts warn that polar bears may start dieing off even sooner than expected and that there’s no plan of how to stop an impending starvation event as of yet.

One option that the paper suggests is feeding the polar bears. Europeans are already doing the same thing with their brown bears and the species has managed to survive in several countries thanks to this approach.

Black bears are also being fed in Washington State in order to reduce the damage done to trees. The scientists note that if we are willing to feed black bears to protect trees, we should also be willing to feed polar bears to protect them from starving to death and quickly losing members.

The planet currently hosts somewhere between 20.000 and 25.000 polar bears worldwide. They are recognized as an endangered species and have been placed under the protective power of the federal Endangered Species Act since 2008.

Image Source: thesun.co.uk

Email, RSS Follow

Filed Under: Science

About Deborah Cobing

The two C’s that best describe Deborah are calm and calculated. When she was younger she was fiercely determined to become a doctor. That was until she actually got into medicine school. After two years of university she realized that she wasn’t quite cut out for the job. She quickly halted her studies and decided to pursue a career in writing instead.

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 30 other subscribers

Doom and MiniDoom 2

Volunteer-Based Mexican Studio Releases Sidescrolling Doom Clone

March 12, 2018 By Georgia Dawson Leave a Comment

Chinese Mom and locked iPhone.

Toddler Locks Chinese Mom Out of Phone for Half a Century

March 9, 2018 By James Faulkner Leave a Comment

Alexa laughing

Amazon Alexa Laughing out of the Blue Puzzles Engineers

March 8, 2018 By Jack M. Robinson Leave a Comment

Flippy and the Burgers

Meet Flippy, World’s First Fast-Food Robotic Chef

March 6, 2018 By Georgia Dawson Leave a Comment

System Shock

System Shock Remastered Delayed, Nightdive Studios CEO Announces

February 19, 2018 By Janet Vasquez Leave a Comment

Sea of Thieves.

Sea of Thieves Optimized for Low-End PCs

February 14, 2018 By Georgia Dawson Leave a Comment

Sony and VR

Sony Touts New Generation of VR Controllers

January 31, 2018 By Deborah Cobing Leave a Comment

YouTube

YouTube Stiffens Its Monetization Policy to Discourage Spammers and Bad Actors

January 18, 2018 By Georgia Dawson Leave a Comment

Google Art Doppelganger

Google App Can Now Show Your Art Doppelganger

January 15, 2018 By Troy Rubenson Leave a Comment

YouTube mobile app logo on a smartphone

YouTube Now Enables Vertical Videos on iOS

December 24, 2017 By Janet Vasquez Leave a Comment

Samsung Galaxy S2 with a shattered screen

Cracked Smartphone Screens Are a Thing of the Past – Self-Healing Polymer Gets Fixed Just by Pressing It

December 20, 2017 By Janet Vasquez Leave a Comment

Bing logo on a white background

Bing Improves Its Search Results with the Help of AI and Reddit Integration

December 16, 2017 By Janet Vasquez Leave a Comment

White hashtag on a blue background

Follow Your Interests on Instagram by Directly Following Hashtags

December 14, 2017 By Janet Vasquez Leave a Comment

Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge on a leather seat

Samsung Galaxy Smartphones Make More People Happier as Compared to iPhones

December 13, 2017 By Janet Vasquez Leave a Comment

Related Articles

  • the Carina Nebula in space

    The Universe is Full of Space Grease (Study)

    Jun 29, 2018
  • St. George the dragon slayer

    Restoration Makes 16th-Century Spanish Statue Unrecognizable

    Jun 28, 2018
  • Elon Musk

    After Recent Alien Study, Elon Musk Thinks We Should Colonize Other Planets

    Jun 27, 2018
  • the red planet

    Large Blue Sand Dune Discovered on Mars

    Jun 27, 2018
  • two gibbon individuals

    Extinct Gibbon Species Found in Ancient Chinese Tomb (Study)

    Jun 26, 2018
  • Mars panorama

    Dust Storm on Mars is Only Getting Bigger

    Jun 25, 2018
  • asteroid approaching Earth

    America is Not Ready for an Asteroid Impact

    Jun 22, 2018
  • Christopher Columbus

    Real Christopher Columbus Letter Returns to Vatican, Mystery Persists

    Jun 20, 2018
  • sea with beach full of pebbles

    Fossil of Ancient Sea Creature Named After Obama

    Jun 20, 2018
  • Aztec turquoise

    Where Did the Aztec Turquoise Come From? (Study)

    Jun 18, 2018

Categories

  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Markets
  • National News
  • Nature
  • News
  • Politics
  • Science
  • Technology
  • Uncategorized
  • World

Copyright © 2021 statechronicle.com

About · Privacy Policy · Terms of Use · Contact

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Learn more.