Environmental Issues In Polar Bears
Climate change is a global concern that affects many species and ecosystems; polar bears are essentially the poster child for species impacted by Earth’s warming temperatures. “Earth’s 2015 surface temperatures were the warmest since modern record keeping began in 1880,” according to independent analyses by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Polar bears depend on sea ice in the Arctic for all aspects of their life; global warming has caused a marked decrease in the polar ice. In May of 2008, polar bears were listed as a threatened species in the United States under the Endangered Species Act; they are the first species to be listed as a direct result of climate change (World Wildlife Fund, 2016). Polar bears are
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Global temperature averages have increased by 0.23 degrees Fahrenheit from 2014 to 2015. Most of the increase has occurred in the past thirty-five years, in fact, fifteen of the sixteen warmest years on record have happened since 2001 (NASA, 2016). Our planet is currently experiencing a long-term warming trend that is being exacerbated by human consumption of fossil fuels. Researchers in the Arctic have taken ice core samples to measure levels of carbon dioxide over the past 10,000 years; their studies show that never before have carbon dioxide levels reached three hundred parts per million, while in the past thirty years the levels have significantly passed this mark (Endangered Polar Bear, 2013). This study shows the direct human contribution to climate change relating to greenhouse gas emissions from the burning of fossil fuels such as oil and coal. We have compounded this problem by reducing the amount of carbon dioxide being absorbed from the atmosphere due to the deforestation in the tropical regions (Polar Bears International, 2016). Our planet is caught up in a positive feedback loop; warmer temperatures melt the ice so there is less reflection of solar energy, without the ice, the dark open water absorbs the solar energy, and the warmer temperatures thaw out permafrost, which then releases more greenhouse
Global temperature averages have increased by 0.23 degrees Fahrenheit from 2014 to 2015. Most of the increase has occurred in the past thirty-five years, in fact, fifteen of the sixteen warmest years on record have happened since 2001 (NASA, 2016). Our planet is currently experiencing a long-term warming trend that is being exacerbated by human consumption of fossil fuels. Researchers in the Arctic have taken ice core samples to measure levels of carbon dioxide over the past 10,000 years; their studies show that never before have carbon dioxide levels reached three hundred parts per million, while in the past thirty years the levels have significantly passed this mark (Endangered Polar Bear, 2013). This study shows the direct human contribution to climate change relating to greenhouse gas emissions from the burning of fossil fuels such as oil and coal. We have compounded this problem by reducing the amount of carbon dioxide being absorbed from the atmosphere due to the deforestation in the tropical regions (Polar Bears International, 2016). Our planet is caught up in a positive feedback loop; warmer temperatures melt the ice so there is less reflection of solar energy, without the ice, the dark open water absorbs the solar energy, and the warmer temperatures thaw out permafrost, which then releases more greenhouse