Hi all,
Well, we were warned about what would happen if we lost too much of the
polar ice caps and here's the proof.
If there is any justice on planet Earth, Trump ought to be reincarnated as a
polar bear.
Bob Hachey
Polar bears descend on Alaska town as ice floes recede . . KAKTOVIK, Alaska
- Come fall, polar bears are everywhere around this Arctic village, dozing
on sand spits, roughhousing in the shallows, and attracting hundreds of
tourists who travel long distances to see them. At night, the bears steal
into town. They leave only reluctantly, chased off by the polar bear patrol
with firecracker shells and spotlights. On the surface, these bears might
not seem like members of a species facing possible extinction. Scientists
have counted up to 80 at a time in or near Kaktovik; many look healthy and
plump, especially in early fall, when their presence overlaps with the
Inupiat village's whaling season. But the bears that come to Kaktovik are
climate refugees, on land because the sea ice they rely on for hunting seals
is receding. The Arctic is warming twice as fast as the rest of the planet,
and the ice cover is retreating at a pace that even the scientists who
predicted the decline find startling. Much of 2016 was warmer than normal,
and the freeze-up came late. In November, the extent of Arctic sea ice was
lower than ever recorded for that month. In the southern Beaufort Sea, where
Kaktovik's 260 residents oc'cup'y 1 square mile on the northeast corner of
Barter Island, sea ice loss has been especially precipitous. The continuing
loss of sea ice does not bode well for polar bears, whose existence depends
on an ice cover that is rapidly melting as the climate warms. The largest of
the bear subspecies and a powerful predator, the polar bear became the
poster animal for climate change. Even as the polar bear's symbolic role has
raised awareness, some scientists say it has also oversimplified the bears'
plight and unwittingly opened the door to attacks by climate denialists. Few
scientists dispute that in the long run - barring action by countries to
curb global greenhouse gas emissions - polar bears are in trouble. But the
effect of climate change in the shorter term is less clear cut, and a
populationwide decline is not yet apparent. New York Times
