Get to Know the Polar Bears

The sea ice is the most important part of the polar bears’ ecosystem. The ice provides an ecosystem with a rich food chain that nourishes seals with fish and plankton that are beneath seals on the food chain. These seals are then primarily consumed by polar bears (WWF Global 2014). Polar Bears are known to be stealth hunters that sneak up on seals that are resting on ice (Wikipedia 2014). Polar bears are specifically designed to live in freezing arctic temperatures. They are equipped with a thick, white fur and a 5 inch thick layer of fat that ensures the insulation of heat and energy (Wikipedia 2014). However, polar bears have not been built to deal with the effects of climate change on sea ice and prey. With smaller amounts of ice, polar bears are bound to lose large amounts of food each year. With the effects of oil spills and toxic pollution, which affects animals under polar bears on the food chain, polar bears now have less food to eat. Oil spills become trapped under sea ice and also take a much longer time to evaporate in such cold climates (Polar Bears International 2014). The longer the oil stays in the ecosystem, the higher chance there is that an animal ingests it (Arctic Oil Spill Report 2014). The effects of pollution and oil spillage will continue to disrupt the polar bears' feeding patterns if not fixed. In order for polar bears to not be a threatened species anymore, humans need to take an incentive to reduce their carbon emissions and reduce damages to the habitats of polar bears and seals, such as reducing oil spills and pollution.

                                                                (Watson 2012)
Works Cited: 

WWF Global. (2014) Threats to polar bears. WWF. (Date Accessed: February 13,2014.) http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_work/arctic/wildlife/polar_bear/threats/

Polar Bears International. (2014) Global Warming. Polar Bears International. (Date Accessed: February 14, 2014.)  http://www.polarbearsinternational.org/about-polar-bears/global-warming

Oceans North: Protecting Life in the Arctic. (2014) Arctic Oil Spill Report. PEW.
(Date Accessed: February 12, 2014.) 

http://oceansnorth.org/arctic-oil-spill-report

Polar Bears. Wikipedia: the free encyclopedia. (Date Accessed: February 25, 2014.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polar_bear

Watson, L. (2012) Polar stare: Arctic bears get up close and personal in stunning images that show fearsome animal's curious side. Mail Online. (Date Accessed: February 27, 2014.) 
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2216601/Ice-Curious-polar-bears-close-personal-brave-wildlife-photographers-camera.html