I received a comment on my May 14th post about polar bears and their threatened status. I want to reply to that comment, which I invite you all to read. This is an important discussion and I want to take the writer seriously, rather than just dismissing these comments. The writer basically said worrying about polar bear extinction was a commie plot to undermine capitalism. Why worry when the total population had increased over the past 30 years?
That last comment may be true. I don't know what the total population was 30 years ago and to what degree it has increased. The current population stands at about 20,000-25,000 bears. Look at the www.WorldWildlifeFederation.org site for their most recent polar bear population numbers. But what is worrying is not the increase in the bear population, but the dramatric DECREASE in the bear's habitat. Sea ice is melting and at an increasing rate. Now is the melting sea ice a non-governmental Marxist plot to undermine capiatalism? I think not.
Polar bears and ice go together. Bears need ice for fishing, feeding and breeding. And the ice is melting. On 12/12/07 NASA climate scientist Jay Zwal suggested that as soon as 2012 summer sea ice could be completely melted. Other reputable scientists suggest that by mid-century all the ice summer and winter might be gone.
Such a climatological event not only affects the bear population--making it more difficult for bears to feed well and gain the fat they need to breed and nourish young--but also creates more and more dark water surfaces. These huge areas of open water absorb heat from the sun rather than reflecting it back as do the frozen polar seas. Open water becomes like a huge heat sink and contributes to more warming.
In addition to the issues of potential bear population collapse or even extinction, and overall warming of the climate, there is just the sheer fact that the loss of ice and polar bears is an unbearable thought. They are so beautiful. So beautiful. How can we stand to live in a world in which we deliberately destroy its beauty?
Placing polar bears on the threatened species list does give Congress some ability to make treaties with other countries and enact laws and regulations that work to protect bear habitat--ice.
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