United States Geological Survey scientists conservatively project that two-thirds of the polar bear population in the world could disappear by 2050, including all of Alaska's polar bears.
The US Department of Interior announced that the polar bear will be listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act on May 14, 2008, but the listing was filled with contradictions. For example, the administration signaled that it would take no steps under the Endangered Species Act to protect the polar bear from the massive oil and gas development currently planned in the very heart of its habitat.
While the population is currently estimated at more than 20,000 polar bears, already global warming has caused populations to decline in the Western Hudson Bay and Southern Beaufort Sea. Less summer sea ice is forcing bears to fast longer in the summer, decreasing their nutritional status and ability to bear and raise young.
National Wildlife® magazine articles about polar bears
On Thin Ice - Already struggling with pollution, oil drilling and other threats, can polar bears survive global warming's devastating effects? (Dec/Jan 2007)
The Incredible Shrinking Polar Bears - In Canada’s Hudson Bay, a long-term study confirms they are losing weight and bearing fewer cubs as global warming melts away their icy habitat. Is this a preview of what other populations of polar bears will soon be facing? (Dec/Jan 2005)
