Global Warming Is Driving Polar Bears Toward Extinction, Researchers Say

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https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/20/climate/polar-bear-extinction.html

Source: By Henry Fountain, The New York Times. 

Excerpt: Polar bears could become nearly extinct by the end of the century as a result of shrinking sea ice in the Arctic if global warming continues unabated, scientists said Monday. ...By rough estimates there are about 25,000 polar bears in the Arctic. Their main habitat is sea ice, where they hunt seals by waiting for them to surface at holes in the ice. In some areas the bears remain on the ice year round, but in others the melting in spring and summer forces them to come ashore. “You need the sea ice to capture your food,” Dr. Molnar said. “There’s not enough food on land to sustain a polar bear population.” But bears can fast for months, surviving on the energy from the fat they’ve built up thanks to their seal diet. ...the time that the animals would be forced to fast would eventually exceed the time that they are capable of fasting. In short, the animals would starve.... 

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