Polar Bears, Sea Ice, and Climate Change
by Leeann Myers
Click the image to enlarge.
How do polar bears respond to climate-induced sea ice changes? A new, five-year study at the USGS Alaska Science Center explores the question.
Climate change (a.k.a. global warming) has become a common topic of conversation these days, and not just among scientists. When there’s too much rain, too much snow, drought conditions – whatever the weird weather pattern – global warming is often blamed for the occurrence by the lay public and popular press. The release of the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment late last year added to the discussion and controversy. And now, a group of researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Alaska Science Center is setting out to analyze sea ice conditions in the Beaufort Sea over the past 24 years, to explore how climate-related changes in sea ice may be affecting polar bears.
Climate change (a.k.a. global warming) has become a common topic of conversation these days, and not just among scientists. When there’s too much rain, too much snow, drought conditions – whatever the weird weather pattern – global warming is often blamed for the occurrence by the lay public and popular press. The release of the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment late last year added to the discussion and controversy. And now, a group of researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Alaska Science Center is setting out to analyze sea ice conditions in the Beaufort Sea over the past 24 years, to explore how climate-related changes in sea ice may be affecting polar bears.