Polar Bears

As Arctic sea ice melts, polar bears are changing their habitat, shifting from their preferred ice hunting grounds to land and open water, according to a new long-term study. The number of bears sighted steadily increased from 138 bears between 1979 and 1987, to 271 bears between 1988 and 1996, …

In a new research, scientists have revealed how mercury pollution is affecting Arctic animals like the polar bear. The research, led by biogeochemists Travis Horton of the University of Canterbury and Joel Blum of the University of Michigan, lays the groundwork for assessing current and future effects of mercury deposition …

Today the Center for Biological Diversity filed suit in Seattle against the Environmental Protection Agency for failing to consider impacts to the polar bear and its Arctic habitat from toxic contamination caused by pesticide use in the United States. The EPA did not respond to the Center’s notification of intent …

Scientists say shrinking Arctic sea ice may be forcing some polar bears into cannibalizing young cubs. “When (bears) are very hungry, they go looking for something to eat,” biologist Ian Stirling said Friday. “There”s nothing much to eat along the Hudson Bay coast in the fall other than other bears.” …

The brutal impact the global warming is having on the polar ice caps is illustrated in a shocking new ad created by Mother and directed by Daniel Kleinman on behalf of the climate change campaigners Plane Stupid. It opens on a shot of a city skyline, where some strange objects …

The governor of Alaska is suing the US government to get polar bears” endangered species listing overturned. Like his predecessor, Sarah Palin, he believes the bears” protected status could threaten Alaska”s petroleum development. As Alaska North Slope wells dry up, the state is turning to potential offshore discoveries to refill …

Scientists compared bear skulls from the early 20th Century with those from the latter half of the century. Their study, in the Journal of Zoology, describes changes in size and shape that could be linked an increase in pollution and the reduction in sea ice. Physical “stress” caused by pollutants …

Just as the federal Environmental Protection Agency failed to protect imperiled species around San Francisco Bay from pesticides, the agency hasn”t shielded the Arctic polar bear from harmful chemical exposures, an environmental group charged in an intent-to-sue letter Wednesday.

Polar bear populations in and around Alaska are declining due to continued melting of sea ice and Russian poaching, according to reports released Thursday by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Officials say the drop among the Chukchi and Bering bears is likely steeper than for those in the Beaufort, …

Utilizing authority granted to him by Congress, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar rescinded a rule passed in the final days of the Bush administration that weakens the Endangered Species Act by exempting thousands of federal activities, including those that generate greenhouse gases, from review under the Endangered Species Act. Salazar, however, …

There is no doubt that polar bears are in serious trouble. Already on the ropes due to other human threats, their numbers are falling faster than ever as a result of retreating ice due to global warming. The nonprofit International Union for the Conservation of Nature, which added the polar …

About 2,500 polar bears live in the pristine wilderness. It is the perfect habitat for one of nature”s most remarkable creatures. “These bears use this whole environment; they are on the land, they are on the water, they are on the ice, they are in the water and playing,” filmmaker …