Share this Post:

Print this page

Email this page

Climate Change Seesaw No Fun for Arctic Polar Bears

Facebook

Twitter

RSS

YouTube

SIGN-UP for our latest news and action alerts:

Regular Blog Features:

Scope of Science:

Understanding environmental issues with science

Blog Categories:

Facebook Fans

Related Blog Entries

by Grand Chief Ruth Massie:

Arctic Athabaskans Urge Black Carbon Reductions to Protect Homelands

Our homelands—the Arctic wildlife and ecosystems that are the foundation of our culture and traditional ways of life—are fast changing. Ar...

by Terry Winckler:

A Reason to Celebrate Earth Day: No Arctic Ocean Drilling

Perhaps you’ve already read the good news by our crackerjack Alaska attorney Holly Harris, who reported that ConocoPhillips is the latest Big Oi...

by Holly Harris:

ConocoPhillips Surrenders on Arctic Ocean Drilling

The Arctic Ocean got a reprieve and Big Oil got its latest reality check, today, when ConocoPhillips admitted it's not ready to drill in the Arctic Oc...

Earthjustice on Twitter

Follow @Earthjustice

01 October 2009, 1:55 PM

Terry Winckler

Climate Change Seesaw No Fun for Arctic Polar Bears

Ice-free summers add to existing pressures on bears

Darkness and, with it, ice, are returning to Arctic Ocean waters after an ice-free summer that allowed two commercial ships to voyage across the top of the world. This is the second consecutive year that global warming unlocked these waters. Scientists believe the freeze-melt cycle will continue—and that, says The New York Times, is bad news for polar bears:

While open Arctic waters could be a boon for shipping, fishing and oil exploration, an annual seesawing between ice and no ice could be a particularly harsh jolt to polar bears.

As Earthjustice has consistently pointed out, Arctic polar bears already are stressed and threatened by industrial activity, and we are fighting to keep oil drilling from expanding into the bears' habitat. The growing impacts associated with climate change make our efforts even more essential.