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...

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How Climate Change is Affecting the Polar Bear Population

When the World Wildlife Federation declared them “threatened” on May 15, 2008, polar bears became the first species ever to be declared threatened because of global warming. However, polar bear populations have grown since 1970, by way of laws banning polar bear hunting and abundant prey. Since 1970, world polar bear populations have increased from 8,000 to 25,000 (Ritter 2012). However, these population increases are quite misleading. In 1973,...

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Primary Productivity Increases

Primary productivity is the transformation of chemical or solar energy to biomass. Primary producers in the Arctic Ocean are typically phytoplankton. Primary productivity ranges from region to region in the arctic. The primary producers in the arctic are algae, mainly phytoplankton, under the ice (Frey 2011). The amount of primary production limits the number of polar bears that can survive in an area. The amount of prey of the polar bears depends...

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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...

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Saving the Polar Bears: Solutions for Climate Change

The four most common greenhouse gases according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorinated gases. The greenhouse gases are all fine and necessary in small amounts, but in larger amounts they create a blanket around the earth and trap too much heat in earth’s atmosphere (EPA 2013). This problem can cause the arctic ice to melt sooner and form later, which limits the...

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Video: Polar Bears and Climate Change

This educational video is a TedTalk style analysis on how climate change is affecting polar bears. This video was created by:  Brett Raskopf  Hannah Beebe Hannah Koschmeder Andrew Tucci ...

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Perspective: Political Activist vs Loudmouth Skeptic

It is no secret that climate change is affecting our planet, but to what extent? The public's main concern is the effect of climate change on animals and plants all over the world, and specifically the arctic climes. The poles of the earth contain enormous blocks of ice that are especially affected by climate change. If asked which animal is most threatened by climate change, most people would answer the polar bears. The following arguments provide...

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Perspective: A Scientific Take on Polar Bears and Climate Change

Global warming is actively taking its toll on the polar regions of the world. Summers have become increasingly hotter and ice is beginning to melt earlier and produce later. Polar Bears are directly affected by this situation, as their hunting season is noticeably shortened. Greenhouse gases that protect our world like a blanket have increased over the last 200 years (Polar Bears International 2014).            ...

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