Polar bears live in a very specific habitat.
They need the cold, snow and ice of the polar regions. That is why
they are called "polar bears" and not "summer
bears." Polar bears have very few natural threats in the polar
region. Polar bears are on the top of the food chain and there are
no other animals in the north that will threaten the polar bears. So
why are the polar bears now on the threatened/endangered species list?
Polar bears are not threatened because of other animals or because they
are being hunted too much. Polar bears are threatened as a direct
effect on how we as humans treat the earth and the environment.
People have begun to take the earth for granted. They have treated
it as thought it is indestructible. When if fact, the earth is destructible,
and we are destroying it.
Polar bears live in the arctic, and like many other places on earth,
the arctic region has had scientists who are learning about what is
happening to that specific region of the earth. The scientists have
been doing deep core tests. This is where they drill a hole down
into the ice and pull out a core of ice. In this core of ice
the scientists can get very specific information about the weather, the
atmosphere, and the temperature for a specific time period. These
core tests can determine facts from 420,000 years.
The deep core tests have reveled facts about the CO2 (carbon dioxide)
in the atmosphere. There is a natural up and down range that the
levels have, these levels have never gone over 300 parts per million, that
is until recent years. Now what does this mean? It means that
some of the carbon dioxide that used to leave the earth's atmosphere is
now remaining inside the atmosphere. The carbon dioxide that is
remaining on earth, also known as greenhouse gases, is raising the earth's
temperature, causing the "Greenhouse Effect."
Now you may wonder what all of this has to do with the polar
bears. The polar bears live in a very sensitive environment.
The arctic region. The arctic region is made of snow and ice.
Snow and ice is what the polar bears depend on for their survival.
The "Greenhouse Effect" warms the earth, and therefore, melts
the precious snow and ice that the polar bears need for survival.
So it is easy to deduce from this, that we, humans, are the cause of
the polar bears being threatened. We are slowly killing the planet
and most of us are oblivious to it. Global warming can be slowed
down, the polar bears do have a chance.
