Climate change, global warming,
weather trends. Is there
really a chance that the polar bears can become extinct in about 50 years. Skeptics to global warming and climate change state that it
is a natural cycle that the earth is going through. There are natural warming trends, and cooling trends
and we are in a cycle of warming. Well
that is correct, to an extent. There
are warming trends on the earth, but not like we have seen in the past few
decades.
Scientists who have been working
in the polar and arctic regions have taken ice core samples from deep
within the snow and ice that cover the northern pole.
They have made alarming discoveries.
The C02 (carbon dioxide) levels have never before, over the last
ten thousand years has reached 300 parts per million (ppm).
However, within the last few decades the carbon dioxide level has
not only reached 300 ppm, but also has surpassed it greatly.
What does that mean? It
means that the earth now has more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
The earth’s atmosphere is now getting thicker, and not allowing
as much heat from the sun to go back into space.
The green house gasses, CO2, is holding this heat back, raising the
temperature of the earth. You
may be thinking, well that is O.K. I
like it warm. However, if this trend continues, then in about 50 years the
earth will be so warm, that the Polar Regions, the regions that the polar
bears depend on for survival, will no longer exist.
They will have little ice and little snow. Since the polar bears depend on this very specific habitat,
they will no longer be able to exist in the wild.
The only place where they may exist would be in zoos.
Climate
change is effecting the polar bears already.
They have to stay on shore more, because the ice forms later in the
year and lasts for fewer months. Polar
bears need the ice to live. They
hunt seals from the ice floes and with less time on the ice. The
less time they have to eat. Polar
bears do not hibernate. They
have to have enough fat storage build up throughout the winter to last
them throughout the spring, summer, and parts of fall.
So to answer the question, is global warming killing the polar
bears? Yes, and we have to
begin acting now to help with their survival.
