Scientists say that if we don’t take any action against climate change, we could lose two-third of its population by 2050 and lose all our polar bears by 2075. The polar bears are classified as vulnerable species and they are facing threat of extinction. Do you know that biggest culprit for their extinction is global warming?
Polar bears live in primary habitat of sea ice. The climate change is warming The Arctic twice as fast as rest of our earth. Since 1979, Arctic sea ice is decreased by 13% per decade.
When melting of ice starts, the polar bears come to the shore and wait for the ice to refreeze. During this period, they survive on their store fats. In search of food, they swim to longer distances by using their reserved fats. Melting of ice also affects their main source of food; the seals.
According to one research, if this fasting period of polar bears lasts for more than 05 months, it is likely that 15% of adult males and female would die of hunger.
Currently the global population of polar bears is around 26,000. The polar bears in Southern Beaufort have died and their number has dropped by 40%. Their number dropped drastically from 1500 to 900 between 2001- 2010.
The metabolic rate of polar bears is 50% higher than previous studies. That is why, polar bears need at least one seal every 10 days to survive and if they don’t get any food for 10 days, its metabolism slows down and it starts using the fat reserves. Within 10 days, its weight starts to lose as much as 20 kg.
Polar bears play very important role in overall ecosystem of sea. They are placed at top of the food chain. The length of adult polar bear is 3m and weight is almost 680 kg. Surprisingly, they can run at speed of up to 40KM/h. They can swim in water at speed of 10KM/hr. They can bear very low temperature of -36°C but their body temperatures remains stable at 31°C. Their sense of smell is very sharp. They can trace the seal at a distance of 32KM away.
The way of hunting of polar bears is very unique, even then only 2% of their hunting is successful. In the coming years, polar bears will face huge threat to their survival. If sea ice disappears due to climate change, all the sea ecosystem affects and number of polar bears also decreases.
