Not only polar bears, but rare animals,birds as
well will be wiped out by the turn of the
century unless more is done to tackle climate change, a study finds.
Scientists
say some populations have already reached their survival limits as
the Arctic sea ice shrinks.
Carnivores
rely on the sea ice of the Arctic Ocean to hunt seals.
As the ice breaks, the animals are forced to travel long distances or to the shore, where they struggle to find food and feed their young.
The bear has become "the poster child of climate change," said Dr. Peter Molnar of the University of Toronto in Ontario, Canada.
“Polar bears are already sitting on top of the world; if the ice goes away, they have nowhere to go, ”he said.
Polar bears are listed as vulnerable to extinction by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), with climate change being a key factor in their decline.
Polar bears 'run out of food'
• DNA reveals the ancient origins of the polar bear
• Polar bears fail to adapt to lack of food in the warmer Arctic
0 Comments