Save the Polar Bears

This week's blog post is going to be about how climate change and melting arctic sea ice affects one of the most beloved species we have on this planet: the polar bears.

http://www.firstpeople.us/pictures/polar-bears/cute-polar-bear-cub-sitting-on-snow.html

The polar bears are struggling to feed themselves because of the melting ice. Seals are one of the species' main sources of food. Polar bears hunt for food, seals in particular, when they are on the sea ice. However, there is less ice for them to stand on, therefore, they are having to spend more time on land. This is forcing them to starve or fast. Our greenhouse gas emissions are getting out of control and harming these wonderful creatures. Our emissions are warming up the earth and getting trapped in the atmosphere to the point where they melt

http://www.cuteheaven.com/polar-bear-and-iceberg/

the ice that polar bears rely on. Humans are the cause. Sea ice loss for polar bears, according to one website, will mean: "reduced access to food, drop in body condition, lower cub survival rates, and increasing in drowning". All of these effects of anthropogenic sources could lead to the extinction of one of our favorite arctic animals unless we are more careful and frugal about our daily life choices. The sea ice cover has been decreasing for a while now, but we can see an extremely evident decrease in sea ice cover over the past few decades in particular. In the map I made with QGIS below (obtaining data from the National Snow & Ice Data Center), there is data represented for the years 1990, 2000, and 2010. All data is from the month of September because that is when it is at its minimum due to the end of the warm summer months. Over the course of just 20 years, there is significant decrease in arctic ice cover. It is scary to see this map because who knows what it will be like down the road? Will the rate ever slow down? What if it doesn't? Our beloved polar bears could be on their way to extinction. In the QGIS map, the sea ice cover for 1990 is in green, while the cover for 2000 is in blue and the cover for 2010 is in red.

An additional graph from the Huffington Post shows a trend for average monthly sea ice extent in September from 1979-2013. The long-term trend is that it is dropping more steeply, and it shows no signs of slowing down unless we take action. Can we save the polar bears before it's too late?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-chameides/arctic-sea-ice-update-the_b_5187264.html