The increasing of polar bear

Summary Response #2

For a long-time, people have insisted that the climate change leads the melting of sea ice, then, threaten the amount of polar bears. However, some researchers have a different discovery about polar bears. Mitchell Taylor, who is a biologist who studied polar bears for the Nunavut government for 20 years, claims that amount of polar bears are increasing in recent years (Langan, 2007). He is against the idea that it is global warming, which is considered the biggest threat to polar bears. Nevertheless, Andrew Derocher, a professor of biological sciences at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, claimed that the increasing in the population of polar bears is not related to climate change, but to conservation and an increase in the harp seal population (Lamgan, 2007).

Undebatably, the alarm of global warming is apparent. The influence of the Arctic becoming ice-free not only leads to the sea level rise but damages the habitats of the polar bear (CNN.com, 2007). The polar bear is the biggest carnivore in the Arctic and usually to be a standard animal as the balance of the Arctic ecosystem because of their life-style. They rely on the ice floe moving to distant places and hunting the harp seal for food. In other words, the subsistence of this species is involved with the sea ice that is the mass part in the Arctic. Recently, people believe that global warming has changed the ecosystem in the Arctic; moreover, it has endangered most mammals that live in the polar region. However, there are opposite points of view about that: the amount of polar bears is not decreasing as people thought, but increasing. However, that not mean people should do noting to protect them. On the contrary, the reason for the numbers of polar bears climbing up is complicated, and people should concentrate on the issue and figure out the real causes.

One of the reasons is conservation. For a long-time, the illegal hunting activity has been a grave threat to the survival of polar bears. There was more than 40 polar bears had been killed by hunters annually. As a result, many countries such as Canada and Norway made laws to ban illegal hunting. Definitely, this was contributing to protecting wildlife. In Canada’ s eastern Arctic, one of 19 polar bear population grew to 2,100, up from 850 in the mid-1980s (Langan, 2007). That is clear that protecting polar bears from hunting can save them against extinction. Therefore, all the things we need to do include not only cutting the greenhouse gas down, but forbidding the killing of rare animals.

Another reason is migration. One Inuit hurter reported that there are more polar bears wandering in town and trying to get food from human settlements compared before (Langan, 2007). Polar bears normally rely on the ice moving to other places to hunt seal. However, the decreasing of ice makes the activity become difficult. Therefore, they have to move into the north part, which has more ice covered lands to get more prey. It seems polar bears are becoming adapted to the climate change; nevertheless, finally, the Arctic will lose its ice cover and polar bears will lose their hunt.

Some people claimed that because the amount of polar bears is increasing now, humans should not spend money in conservation, but spend in helping people getting the better life quality instead. However, the Arctic will lose its sea ice cover by 2030 (CNN.com, 2007). As a result, it is predictable that polar bear will disappear and no longer exist in the future. Besides, an ice-free Arctic also can accelerate global warming, because solar energy will be absorbed by seawater, and then heat up the whole ocean, then the Earth. The responsibility for humans is unavoidable. Since last century, people have enjoyed the convenience of technology; at the same time, we produce too much waste and pollution, which causes the Earth to be unable maintain a sustainable society, which means the Earth loses its self-repair ability.

On the whole, the efficient way to protect endangered mammals that depend on sea ice is conservation and reducing the production of greenhouse gases. Considering the above, although it is impossible to create a zero-pollution environment, people must takes some actions to slow down the destroyed behaviors, not only for us but for our children and all the species.

Reference
Arctic sea ice cover at record low. (2007). CNN.com. Retrieved October 26, 2007, from http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/09/11/arctic.ice.cover/index.html?iref=newssearch
Langan, F. (2007). Canadian controversy: How do polar bears fare? Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved October 25, 2007 from LexisNexis database