Disappearing polar bear habitat
October 2007
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Polar bear in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
Photo by Ken Whitman
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Polar bears are highly dependent on sea ice for hunting seals. The US Geological Survey predicts that if global warming continues unchecked, there will not be a single polar bear left in Alaska by 2050.
“The cap of floating sea ice on the Arctic Ocean, which retreats under summer's warmth, this year shrank more than one million square miles—or six Californias—below the average minimum area reached in recent decades, scientists reported.”
—Andrew C. Revkin, New York Times, September 20, 2007
To see the study posted by the National Snow and Ice Data Center visit www.nsidc.org.
“If global temperatures continue rising, the ice will likely disappear.
An Arctic without ice would be like a garden without soil.”
—Paul Nicklen, in National Geographic, June 2007
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