Yesterday 08:14 PM
https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/202...he-arctic/
EXCERPTS: As polar bears across the Arctic watch their sea ice habitat disappear, here’s something they might be wishing for: A one-way ticket to Norway’s Svalbard archipelago.
There, on a collection of rocky islands perched at the edge of the Arctic Ocean, polar bears are fatter than they were two decades ago, showing no signs of the distress hitting polar bear populations in parts of Canada and the U.S., scientists wrote last week in Scientific Reports.
It’s a paradox that puzzles even researchers who have studied this population for decades. [...] “What we see in Svalbard is still polar bears doing fine,” said Jon Aars, a polar bear ecologist with the Norwegian Polar Institute and an author of the new study.
There is little doubt that polar bears are in trouble in parts of the world, and that as sea ice continues to vanish from fast-warming northern latitudes, their plight will worsen. A recent study warned that if the world continues spewing greenhouse gases at the current rate, bears throughout the Arctic will be suffering by the middle of the century.
The crux of the problem is that sea ice is critical for bears to catch ringed seals, the cornerstone of their diet. The seals are most vulnerable to becoming bear meals in the spring, when they flop onto the ice to birth and nurse their pups, and in the summer when they warm themselves in the Arctic sun as they molt.
[...] But when Norwegian scientists looked at 25 years of data from 770 polar bears captured and released around Svalbard, they saw something different. ... Why would polar bears be gaining weight as their key habitat disappears?
[...] There are some clues. While the number of ringed seals are shrinking around Svalbard, scientists have found that the remaining animals are more bunched together on what’s left of the sea ice, potentially making them easier targets for hungry bears. ... The bears might also be dining on a larger variety of creatures. ... There are also signs that bears have developed more of a taste for land animals. The bears have been seen chasing down reindeer on the islands and scientists have documented their increasing appetite for bird eggs...
[...] “There’s three classic responses of species to climate change. You can move to where habitat conditions are good. You can adapt to local conditions. Or the other alternative is to die. This is one study that suggests that adaptation might be occurring.” (MORE - missing details)
EXCERPTS: As polar bears across the Arctic watch their sea ice habitat disappear, here’s something they might be wishing for: A one-way ticket to Norway’s Svalbard archipelago.
There, on a collection of rocky islands perched at the edge of the Arctic Ocean, polar bears are fatter than they were two decades ago, showing no signs of the distress hitting polar bear populations in parts of Canada and the U.S., scientists wrote last week in Scientific Reports.
It’s a paradox that puzzles even researchers who have studied this population for decades. [...] “What we see in Svalbard is still polar bears doing fine,” said Jon Aars, a polar bear ecologist with the Norwegian Polar Institute and an author of the new study.
There is little doubt that polar bears are in trouble in parts of the world, and that as sea ice continues to vanish from fast-warming northern latitudes, their plight will worsen. A recent study warned that if the world continues spewing greenhouse gases at the current rate, bears throughout the Arctic will be suffering by the middle of the century.
The crux of the problem is that sea ice is critical for bears to catch ringed seals, the cornerstone of their diet. The seals are most vulnerable to becoming bear meals in the spring, when they flop onto the ice to birth and nurse their pups, and in the summer when they warm themselves in the Arctic sun as they molt.
[...] But when Norwegian scientists looked at 25 years of data from 770 polar bears captured and released around Svalbard, they saw something different. ... Why would polar bears be gaining weight as their key habitat disappears?
[...] There are some clues. While the number of ringed seals are shrinking around Svalbard, scientists have found that the remaining animals are more bunched together on what’s left of the sea ice, potentially making them easier targets for hungry bears. ... The bears might also be dining on a larger variety of creatures. ... There are also signs that bears have developed more of a taste for land animals. The bears have been seen chasing down reindeer on the islands and scientists have documented their increasing appetite for bird eggs...
[...] “There’s three classic responses of species to climate change. You can move to where habitat conditions are good. You can adapt to local conditions. Or the other alternative is to die. This is one study that suggests that adaptation might be occurring.” (MORE - missing details)
