Sam Crotty

Polar Bear Population

According to the IUCN Polar Bear Specialist Group (PBSG), the population of polar bears is decreasing so fast that by the year 2050 if the changes in climate and pollution do not change over 2/3 of the Polar Bear population will be inexistent. Even now in May 2008, U.S. Department of the Interior listed the polar bear as a Threatened Species under the Endangered Species Act. Canada and Russia list the polar bear as a species of concern. All of this is because of Global Warming and Pollution. It is a proven fact that Global Warming exists, and that pollution from us as a whole is directly affecting it in a negative way.

The Polar bear is a wondrous, majestic creature that lives in many different places of which the main one happens to be the Canadian Arctic. Even now their population was only estimated in 2008 to be about 20,000-25,000 and decreasing rapidly. Polar Bears live on the frozen tundra that is melting away because of Global Warming. In the documentary Earth: The Climate Change he explains how we know for a fact that Global Warming is happening and how he knows that we are directly effecting it. It states that because we are polluting so much and not doing anything about it the problem will get exponentially worse. In that documentary they take a sample of the air near the ozone layer to analyze it to see how much CO2 was actually in the air. In the year 1958 we had 350 parts per million and in the year 2008 we already had 386 parts per million of CO2. This relentless year on year rise in Carbon Dioxide is the one undisputed piece of evidence in the Global warming debate. It meant that nobody could seriously argue with one simple stat, the people of earth have steadily increased their emissions of CO2. The reason this is such an important undisputed fact is that CO2 traps heat. What I mean by that isn’t that CO2 can hold more heat than normal air, but it acts as a super-insulator. Therefor the more CO2 in the air the more heat that in turn gets trapped. So indirectly our pollution is affecting the population of polar bears and other such creatures.

Some people just think of pollution as the exhaust coming out of your car, or the garbage you throw out on the street, but its way more than that. Acid rain was not considered a serious environmental problem until the 1970s. During that decade, scientists observed the increase in acidity of some lakes and streams. Acid rain occurs when there is too much Sulfur Dioxide in the air and it absorbs into the rain clouds. In 1982 Acid rain became a huge problem in the United States. It was so bad that the rain was killing the fish and other wild life in our lakes and streams, as well as even doing damage to trees! We caused all of this acid rain… Sulfates and Nitrates most commonly come from burning coal, smokestacks and exhaust from any type of vehicle. NOx comes from the exhaust in our cars which also contributes to the acid rain. The reason that this is so important to my topic is because just recently they have discovered chemicals in the ice from taking samples, it is the same combination of chemicals of that in acid rain. According to, "Polar Bears Victims of Europe's Pollution", scientists have been testing the toxins and chemicals being ingested by polar bears, and have named them one of the top 10 most infected species on the planet. The chemicals being absorbed are suppressing their immune system and decreasing female fertility rate. And because polar bear cubs are drinking their mother’s milk they are getting a double dose of chemicals in their system. Soon they won’t be able to fight off disease nor even have cubs, therefor eliminating the polar bear species all together.

Why do we need them? Why is it so important? As a child I loved going to the zoo. They have become one of my favorite animals in the zoo. Without them my child would never get too see the wonderful, playful, and majestic creature, I grew up loving. They are a rare species right now. If we don’t stop pollution or take measures to decrease it not only will the polar bears be eliminated but we will go on the endangered species list as well… Because the planet is warming at such an alarming rate and shows no signs of stopping we will eliminate the polar bear and every other tropical species in a matter of years. We are running out of time to save them, other animals, and ourselves.