Happy International Polar Bear Day! I’m here to tell you more about these iconic creatures.
Introduction
Ursus maritimus, better known by its common name of Polar Bear, is the world’s largest bear.
This species of bear, with its distinctive all-white body fur, is the apex predator of the Arctic with a habitat range spanning from the northern parts of Canada and Alaska in the USA, to large swathes of coastal Greenland and the Western coasts of Russia¹.
The world’s wild polar bear population (estimated to between 22000 – 31000 individuals) is made up of 19 known sub-populations occupying different parts of the Arctic (ibid). Each subpopulation, owing to varying local conditions, is experiencing differing population trends, with
- 7 sub-populations expected to be either increasing in size or remaining relatively stable
- 4 subpopulations appearing to be decreasing in size and
- The remaining 8 subpopulations having an uncertain population trajectory due to the lack of data (ibid).
Climate Change – The Common Threat
While some subpopulations of polar bears are faring better than others, all wild polar bears are facing a common threat: the slow-looming but hugely detrimental impacts of climate change.
A typical polar bear’s diet consists predominantly of seal (usually ringed and bearded seals), however as a result of climate change, it is becoming increasingly difficult for polar bears to hunt for seals.
This is because rising temperatures in the Arctic are causing an increasingly larger share of the sea ice that has historically served as the bears’ hunting grounds to melt during the warmer months². At the same time, relatively higher temperatures in the Arctic is also coinciding with less sea ice being able to form during the colder months. Collectively, this has shrunk the effective hunting range of the polar bears, who may now have to traverse longer distances in search of food (which can be physically debilitating) while experiencing longer intervals between their meals (ibid).
There are of course other factors that pose a threat to the survival of the polar bears, including environmental pollution and environmentally-insensitive industrial development³. However, with the unrelenting march of climate change unlikely to abate within the foreseeable future as well as its geographically more ubiquitous effects, climate change can be considered to be the pre-eminent threat to the survival of the world’s wild polar bear population.
Human-Polar Bear Conflicts and its Aftermath
As a consequence of the pressures brought about by climate change, polar bears are increasingly having to adapt their behaviours and survival strategies. This includes spending more time on land (rather than on the sea ice) and venturing further away from their usual hunting grounds. Such behaviour inevitably leads to these bears encroaching into human civilization, with more numerous, frequent, and sometimes lethal instances of human-wildlife conflict/tensions occurring as a result⁴.
This situation, if it remains unchanged, will be to the detriment of the polar bears as well as the human communities they are now more likely to encounter.
Conclusion
The world’s wild polar bears are indeed facing threats to their continued survival.
As environmentally-conscious individuals, we should be concerned about their well-being as well as feel galvanised to take action to confront the threats they face – even half a planet away in sunny and humid Singapore!
As an international conservation icon, there may be disagreements over how the various involved parties will perceive the issues and on what precise actions should be taken, but the silver lining is that climate change affects all of us. Everyone, therefore, has a stake in ensuring an effective response to climate change, which will no doubt ultimately also be in the interest of the survival of the world’s polar bears.
Earth School’s note: Keep an eye out for our ‘People Change not Climate Change’ series about how you can play a personal part in slowing down climate change!