Help WWF Protect Our Polar Bears And Halt Global Warming
Most people know that polar bears have evolved to survive in the cold Arctic wilderness. However, their survival is at risk because climate change is causing the sea ice they depend on to disappear. Things have gotten so bad, that the polar bear now faces the prospect of an uncertain future as shrinking sea ice means increasing challenges. The rapidly warming Arctic should serve as a warning that not only are polar bears at risk but out world is seriously under threat.
Protecting the planet
The Arctic helps keep our planet protected, reflecting light from the sun back into space reducing the sun’s warming effect on the oceans. This means if the sea ice disappears then there are consequences for the entire planet. Quite obviously the biggest threat to the polar bear is climate change, and in particular to pregnant polar bears who use the sea ice to hunt so they can build the fat reserves necessary to sustain pregnancy and produce milk for their cubs. If the sea ice forms late or disappears they will go hungry and may risk losing their young.
WWF collecting evidence
It is important that polar bears in the wild are monitored and their behaviour is recorded so that we obtain strong scientific evidence about the impact of climate change. WWF supports a team of scientists who have collected snow samples from polar bear footprints in Svalbard and were able to extract the polar bear’s DNA as well as the DNA of a seal it has eaten earlier and a seagull that had visited the site. This information is incredibly valuable and was obtained from just a teaspoon full of snow.
Combating climate change
Polar bears are an incredibly intelligent species that have a remarkable ability to adapt, however their habitat in the Arctic is warming far quicker than their ability to adjust. We are able to see what is happening in the Arctic and all over the world to both humans and nature. WWF is making the effort to obtain strong scientific evidence to push world leaders to do more to combat climate change by ending the use of fossil fuels which sends carbon into the atmosphere, damaging our fragile ecosystem.
