Article Written By: Jaywon Yoon
This is a picture of a polar bear losing its territory to live on. Climate change is heating up the Arctic region faster than anywhere else. In recent research with satellites shown in the arctic winter, there is approximately 780,000 square miles less ice than 1981 to 2014. The area 780,000 square miles is larger than Alaska and California combined which is absurd. In the late spring, the ice will be breaking up sooner and forming later in fall, forcing bears to burn immense amounts of energy through either walking or swimming long distances to cling onto any remaining ice blocks. Some polar bears stay on the land for longer by spending the summer and fall season off their fat from the seals they caught during the spring. “As the sea ice melts earlier and earlier, polar bears are forced to swim more and more, to reach seal populations,” said author Blaine Griffen, a biologist at Brigham Youth University. Continuous swimming could lead to smaller bears, diminished reproduction rates, and even increased risk of death—something already being seen in several locations such as western Hudson Bay and near the southern Beaufort Sea.
As you can clearly see on the left, there is a photograph of a polar bear starving on iceless land. Polar bears rely almost exclusively on a calorie-loaded diet of seals. To minimize their energy consumption, the bears still-hunt, patiently waiting for hours for the cone-shaped breathing holes in the sea ice. When a seal appears above the surface to breathe, the bear stands on its hind legs and smacks it on the head with both of its front paws to stun it. Next, the bear bites it on the neck and drags it onto the ice. Still, since the ice lands are decreasing swiftly, the possibilities of polar bears finding food resources automatically decrease as well. Analysis reports and research investigations explicate that the bears were active about 35 percent of the time and resting for the remainder, though burning 12,325 calories a day, which generates extreme destruction to the struggling polar bears.
Bibliography (MLA 8 FORMAT):
Website Citations:
Website 1:
Leahy, Stephen. “Polar Bears Really Are Starving Because of Global Warming, Study Shows.” National Geographic, National Geographic Society, 1 Feb. 2018, news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/02/polar-bears-starve-melting-sea-ice-global-warming-study-beaufort-sea-environment/.
Website 2:
Richards, Kimberley. “People Did Not See 'Full Story' behind Iconic Starving Polar Bear Image, Photographer Says.” The Independent, Independent Digital News and Media, 6 Aug. 2018, www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/polar-bear-photo-starving-climate-change-nat-geo-cristina-g-mittermeier-a8479946.html.
Photo Citations:
Photo 1:
Crockford, Susan J., and Financial Post. “The Real Story behind the Famous Starving Polar-Bear Video Reveals More Manipulation.” Financial Post, 9 Oct. 2018, business.financialpost.com/opinion/the-real-story-behind-the-famous-starving-polar-bear-video-reveals-more-manipulation.
Photo 2:
Lupick, Travis. “Video of Starving Polar Bear in Canada's Arctic Re-Ignites Conversations about Climate Change.” Georgia Straight Vancouver's News & Entertainment Weekly, 9 Dec. 2017, www.straight.com/news/1006226/video-starving-polar-bear-canadas-arctic-re-ignites-conversations-about-climate-change.