Home to polar bears, the Arctic has been hit harder by the climate crisis than other parts of the world. Only 26,000 animals populate the melting pack ice. The majestic giants symbolize the dramatic consequences of global warming like no other animal. Little by little they are losing their habitat, the population has declined rapidly in recent decades. February 27 is International Polar Bear Day.
A supporting layer of ice above the sea forms the basis of the Arctic ecosystem. If the pack ice shrinks and disappears, it will have dramatic consequences for all Arctic inhabitants, but especially for polar bears. In the Arctic, it is at the top of the food chain. But polar bears also need solid ice and ice floes to hunt. Although the white bears are excellent swimmers, the long distances they now have to cover in the water are too much even for these mighty animals – they drown or starve.
The gene pool is shrinking and there is a risk of infertility
For the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the polar bear is an endangered species – global warming is the biggest threat. It is estimated that there are still about 26,000 specimens of the animals. But without action, the polar bear could be extinct by the end of the century. Due to the small population, there is another problem: the polar bears reproduce within an ever smaller gene pool. As a result, genetic diversity is constantly decreasing. This can lead to infertility in the animals in the long term.
Video: Polar bear hunts reindeer in the sea
The polar bear’s habitat is rapidly melting
It is not unrealistic that the polar bear could become extinct. Although the Arctic has been covered in ice for 800,000 years, the ice is rapidly melting away. The Arctic has been hit harder by global warming than any other region on Earth: average temperatures have risen nearly twice as fast as the rest of the world over the past 100 years. The Arctic could soon be completely ice-free – with fatal consequences for polar bears.
Greenpeace calls for marine protected areas
Marine protected areas are an important tool to provide safe havens for animals and better manage the effects of the climate crisis. Greenpeace has been fighting for years for a network of protected areas in the Arctic. A new High Seas Protection Agreement, to be negotiated in March 2022, could become the basis for extensive marine protection areas, including in the Arctic.
Source: Krone
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