For my research, I chose to focus on polar bears because their decline has been a hot topic in recent years. I used Gale as my database and found three articles about polar bears that I think fit my topic.
Source 1 – Polar bear cubs die in global warming; NATURE NOTES. (2010, December 10). Daily Telegraph [London, England], 42. https://link-gale-com.bc.idm.oclc.org/apps/doc/A243927120/GPS?u=43dcbs&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=22e79449
Source 2 – Polar Bears Victims of Inaction on Global Warming. (2002, May 17). US Newswire, 1008134n7779. https://link-gale-com.bc.idm.oclc.org/apps/doc/A85986742/GPS?u=43dcbs&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=8631174b
Source 3 – Naishadham, S. (2022, December 28). Polar bears near ‘bear capital’ are dying. USA Today, 03A. https://link-gale-com.bc.idm.oclc.org/apps/doc/A731467119/GPS?u=43dcbs&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=8fda4456
One of nature’s best hunters is the polar bear: they are the largest bear and carnivore on land. A polar bear can weigh up to 700 kilograms and stand about 3 meters tall. But what caused such a mighty animal to go extinct?
The first source revolves around the theme of global warming. In the 20th century, the effect of global warming gradually emerged – sea ice starts to melt, and polar bears cannot survive.
In the second article, we find out that polar bears’ basis for survival is being threatened by the reduction of sea ice. Polar bears need ice platforms to prey on seals and other prey; however, the ice layers become thinner because the temperature rises, and more ice melts. Polar bears cannot hunt for food and starve to death. We also find out that the increase in CO2 release is what has caused most of the global warming. Temperatures all around the world and the sea level have risen, causing sea ice in the Arctic to melt rapidly in the past 100 years.
In the third source, we know that polar bears die in high numbers in the current years, and female bears and cubs cannot survive. Researchers surveyed that around Western Hudson Bay, known as “the Polar Bear Capital of the World,” the number of polar bears has decreased from 842 polar bears in 2016 to 618 in 2021. The author said that since the 1980s, the number of bears in the region has fallen by nearly 50%. Female bears suffer because they spend so much energy nursing and raising young, and young bears cannot live for long periods without food and energy. Polar bears will be less able to reproduce, as fewer cubs will survive to grow into adults and female bears became weaker.
The above is all the information I found. Do you think polar bears are going extinct?