Pollution is a sure threat to the people and wildlife of the Arctic. However, it is a secondary consequence for polar bear populations, while the primary driver is climate change. Warmer temperatures cause more snow and ice to melt rapidly, and for polar bears, it is a prime habitat and hunting ground.
Struggling to find food
Melting ice is causing drastic changes in the way polar bears live. They are forced to swim longer distances to find stable ice and hunt seals, which are their main food. Early warming causes bears to spend more time on land where little or no food is available.
This comes on top of other, non-obvious, food finding challenges impacted by climate change.
This comes on top of other, non-obvious, food finding challenges impacted by climate change.
Health issues
Under research and conservation programs, scientists from all over the world monitor polar bears in the wild. In one such project, from 2012 to 2022, researchers from Canada and the United States have been monitoring two polar bear populations in Kane Basin and East Greenland.
They found that adult species were developing feet injuries related to ice buildup . Experts believe the wounds on the skin and limbs are caused by climate change.
Higher temperatures cause snow to melt into slush which refreezes once its get cold again, only this time it is not soft snow but an actual minefield for polar bears: the sharp snow crystals cut into their feet inflicting painful and sometimes fatal wounds. Polar bears are struggling to walk and hunt which causes declines in their populations.
Many of us have probably seen the shocking photos on social media of emaciated polar bears roaming the ice or trying to catch prey in meltwater. These distressing images have become a global emblem for climate change, slowly but relentlessly transforming the habitat and living conditions of these magnificent mammals.
Read Nornickel’s 2024 Climate Report to find out more about climate change and its impact on the environment.
They found that adult species were developing feet injuries related to ice buildup . Experts believe the wounds on the skin and limbs are caused by climate change.
Higher temperatures cause snow to melt into slush which refreezes once its get cold again, only this time it is not soft snow but an actual minefield for polar bears: the sharp snow crystals cut into their feet inflicting painful and sometimes fatal wounds. Polar bears are struggling to walk and hunt which causes declines in their populations.
Many of us have probably seen the shocking photos on social media of emaciated polar bears roaming the ice or trying to catch prey in meltwater. These distressing images have become a global emblem for climate change, slowly but relentlessly transforming the habitat and living conditions of these magnificent mammals.
Read Nornickel’s 2024 Climate Report to find out more about climate change and its impact on the environment.
Nornickel Photobank