How Climate Change is Affecting the Polar Bears' Food Chains

Polar bears are adapted to the cold tundra climate of northern arctic. With global warming continuing its havoc on the globe, the arctic ice is quickly decreasing in size. This climate change and melting of ice has decreased the hunting season for polar bears, allowing for less time to find prey. These polar bears rely on the cold climate and ice to hunt their prey - the ringed and bearded seal (Polar Bear Diet 2014). The hunting these polar bears do in the winter months is crucial to their survival in the warmer seasons when less food and ice is available for their survival. Polar bears are largely affected by this climate change, and this is particularly influential for pregnant polar bears that rely on food in the area and ice to settle on in order to have their cubs (WWF Global 2014). With much of the seal population moving off of the ice into the water because of climate change, polar bears now have to travel farther for their food.

Photo From: (Krembs 2008)

Works Cited: 

Bering Sea. (2012) Food Web. (Date Accessed: February 12, 2014.) http://beringseaapes9am.blogspot.com/2012/02/food-web.html

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

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/

WWF Global. (2014) Polar bear reproduction. WWF. (Date Accessed: February 13, 2014.)  http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_work/arctic/wildlife/polar_bear/reproduction/

WWF Global. (2014) Polar bear habitat. WWF. (Date Accessed: February 11, 2014.) //wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_work/arctic/wildlife/polar_bear/habitat/