Working to assure the longterm viability of top carnivore wildlife in the west.

Climate Change

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According to the World Conservation Union's Polar Bear Specialist Group, polar bear populations could plummet more than 30 percent in less than 50 years. Perhaps the biggest threats to polar bears, top predators in their arctic habitat, are climate change and sea ice reduction.

Recent and disturbing declines in polar bears can be linked to the retreat of sea ice and its formation later in the year. A 2004 assessment of climate change on the Arctic found the covering of summer ice in the region had shrunk by 15 to 20 percent in the past 30 years. The assessment also concluded that the decline was expected to accelerate. Further predicted reductions of 10 to 50 percent of annual sea ice and 50 to 100 percent of summer sea ice in the next 50 to 100 years present a considerable threat to polar bears. As ice breaks up earlier, bears are forced ashore before they can build up sufficient fat. Or worse, bears must swim longer distances, which may exhaust them, leading to drowning. Not only is the Arctic warming forcing the bears to feed for a shorter time, but it is also decreasing their prey base. The consequences are thinner, stressed bears, decreased female reproductive rates, and lower juvenile survival rates.