:( ::::::

[WillyT]

:cry::cry::cry:



Polar bear cubs die as ice melts, swims get longer
5 of 11 moms that swam long distances lost cubs, study finds
By Deborah Zabarenko - Reuters
updated 7/18/2011 6:14:29 PM ET

<snip

WASHINGTON — Polar bear cubs forced to swim long distances with their mothers as their icy Arctic habitat melts appear to have a higher mortality rate than cubs that didn't have to swim as far, a new study reports.

Polar bears hunt, feed and give birth on ice or on land, and are not naturally aquatic creatures. Previous reports have noted individual animals swimming hundreds of miles to reach ice platforms or land, but this is one of the first to show these swims pose a greater risk to polar bear young.

"Climate change is pulling the sea ice out from under polar bears' feet, forcing some to swim longer distances to find food and habitat," said Geoff York of World Wildlife Fund, a co-author of the study. York said this was the first time these long swims had been quantitatively measured, filling a gap in the historical background on this iconic Arctic species.

To gather data, researchers used satellites and tracked 68 polar bear females equipped with GPS collars over six years, from 2004 through 2009, to find occasions when these bears swam more than 30 miles at a time. There were 50 long-distance swims over those six years, involving 20 polar bears, ranging in distance up to 426 miles and in duration up to 12.7 days, according to the scientific paper.

At the time the collars were put on, 11 of the polar bears that swam long distances had young cubs; five of those polar bear mothers lost their cubs during the swim, representing a 45 percent mortality rate, the study found.

<snip>

More: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43798896/ns/us_news-environment/

:evilfrown:

[flamingdem]

1. This is brutal, I guess they're not big enough to swim far nt

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. ...

:cry:

[RainDog]

3. should put people like Inhofe out there with them

and ask him what he thinks about his lies now.

[villager]

6. +1

n/t

[WillyT]

8. + 1,000,000,000... What You Said !!!

:applause::applause::applause:

:kick:

:hi:

[SammyWinstonJack]

9. [phone]!

:applause:

[G_j]

12. yes

nt

[bigwillq]

4. So sad.

:(

[enough]

5. Apocalypse now. (nt)

[Booster]

7. Just heartbreaking. How in the world do we help them?

[City Lights]

10. .

:cry:

[underpants]

11. What an incredibly stark and representative picture of our sad decline

thanks for posting that.

[WillyT]

13. Kick !!!

:kick:

[Karmadillo]

14. If only we had a Democratic administration in office, they could use a tragedy like this to

inspire a whole generation to take the steps necessary to fight global warming.

[WillyT]

16. Man... What A Thoughtful And GRAND Idea !!!

It would be doing the right thing, AND... doing the right thing!!!

:applause::applause::applause:

If only...

:evilfrown:

:hi:

[OhioChick]

15. Awww.......

:(

[Electric Monk]

17. I can't handle this anymore

I'm sorry but I think I need to drink a litre of vodka.

I'm really depressed. This sucks.

There is no more hope. We're all screwed.


Talk me out of it?

[Horse with no Name]

21. Sorry I can't

Can you make mine a double please?:(

[ddeclue]

18. :(

:cry:

:grouphug:

[malaise]

19. Too sad

:cry:

[Zax2me]

20. Polar bear population is increasing, not decreasing.

But nevermind the facts, right?!

"There aren't just a few more bears. There are a hell of a lot more bears," said Mitch Taylor, a polar bear biologist who has spent 20 years studying the animals.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1545036/Polar-bears-thriving-as-the-Arctic-warms-up.html



http://www.examiner.com/seminole-county-environmental-news-in-orlando/canada-s-growing-polar-bear-population-becoming-a-problem-locals-say?do_not_mobile_redirect=1

[deaniac21]

22. Facts are fucking this thread. GO AWAY!

[WillyT]

24. Shhh... Pssst...

#23

:hide:

[WillyT]

23. Wow... You Might Want To Edit... You Forgot A Couple Of Things...

First... your article is from 2007... Second...

<snip>

His findings back the claims of Inuit hunters who have long claimed that they were seeing more bears. "Scientific knowledge has demonstrated that Inuit knowledge was right," said Mr Taylor. While fellow scientists have accepted Mr Taylor's findings, critics point out that his study was commissioned by the Inuit-dominated government of Nunavit.

Critics claim the government has an agenda to encourage polar bear hunting and keep the animals off the endangered species list. In small Inuit communities, hunters kill bears that wander too close to human settlements and, in this particular region, they are licensed to kill six polar bears a year.

Polar bear experts said that numbers had increased not because of climate change but due to the efforts of conservationists. The battle to ban the hunting of Harp seal pups has meant the seal population has soared - boosting the bears' food supply. At the same time, fewer seal hunters are around to hunt bears.

"I don't think there is any question polar bears are in danger from global warming," said Andrew Derocher of the World Conservation Union, and a professor of biological sciences at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. "People who deny that have a clear interest in hunting bears." Bear numbers on the west coast of Hudson's Bay had shrunk by 22 per cent over the past decade, he said.

Source: YOUR LINK!

:evilfrown:

[krispos42]

25. That's a hell of a picture

Jeez... :-(