The Green

Global Warming is causing a 9 degree Fahrenheit average temperature change in arctic areas. This temperature change is wreaking havoc on the polar bear hunting grounds (sea ice) and disrupting their natural feeding habits. Polar bears hunt seals and other fish for sustenance, and they cannot do this without ample supply of sea ice. Depleting sea ice is causing them to look elsewhere for sustenance. In fact, last year in Canada, a polar bear wandered south in search of food and ended up in an ice skating rink, where it scared away all the skaters. Maybe it thought the rink was a new iceberg to call home.



Whether you're an animal rights advocate or not, listing polar bears as an endangered species might be the best hope for the EPA to be given more authority to recommend changes to American laws that will protect the environment from global warming pollution and insure a healthy future for the American continent.

As stated in the petition to list polar bears as endangered, "The primary threat to polar bears is the decrease of sea ice coverage" (US Fish and Wildlife Service). The endangered species act empowers the EPA to do whatever is necessary to lessen or remove altogether the primary threat to an endangered species. Since the only way to ensure that sea ice continues to exist in the north and south poles is to combat emissions of greenhouse gases that are proven to cause global warming, there is strong reason to successfully listing polar bears as endangered. There is good incentive for humans to protect and even increase sea ice in the poles as well, since ice reflects heat back into the atmosphere while water absorbs heat and transfers that heat from there into worldwide climate systems.

Make sure to check out the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service page and check out what has happened with the petition to add the polar bear to the endangered species act. The petition was initially put forth by the Center for Biological Diversity in early 2005. Click Here [alaska.fws.gov].

If you are curious to find out the geographic locations of the major polar bear habitats, click the following links to markers on the Eco-mmunity Map.

- Russia [www.sundancechannel.com]

- Alaska [www.sundancechannel.com]

- Denmark [www.sundancechannel.com]

- Canada [www.sundancechannel.com]

- Norway [www.sundancechannel.com]

Thanks for spending time on the Green Blog and please consider commenting on these posts with any additional information or questions that could help create positive environmental movement around the issues covered by this post.