Conservationists Call For New Polar Bear Protections

July 6, 2010

Survival of the world's remaining polar bears is increasingly jeopardized by the rapid disappearance of the arctic sea ice on which they depend for hunting, mating and migration, according to three leading conservation groups that today announced they are taking legal action to have the bears listed as "threatened" under America's Endangered Species act. They point to extensive scientific evidence showing that the unprecedented polar meltdown is the result of global warming.

The groups include the Center for Biological Diversity, the
Natural Resources Defense Council, and Greenpeace. Polar bears
would be the first mammal to be officially declared at risk due to
global warming.

“The polar bears’ habitat is melting right out from under them
as Arctic temperatures rise,” said Kassie Siegel of the Center for
Biological Diversity. “Their entire lifecycle, from finding food to
finding mates, depends on these seas being frozen. If things
continue as they are, these majestic animals will be driven out of
existence.”

Polar bears, the largest of all bears, live only in the Arctic
and are totally reliant on the sea ice. They feed mainly on ringed
seals, which live in the same habitat. But a growing body of
evidence is proving that the ice is vanishing much faster than
previously documented. In late September, NASA and the University
of Colorado released a report revealing that the Arctic ice cap has
shrunk 20 percent since 1979, losing an area the size of Colorado
in just the past year.

“We need to take action now to protect these animals and
preserve their Arctic habitat. We cannot afford to ignore the
threat any longer,” said Andrew Wetzler of NRDC.

Turning Up the Arctic Heat

Last year, the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment report,
involving 300 scientists from the U.S. and seven other nations,
also found that Arctic sea ice is melting at an alarming rate, and
identified global warming as the cause. Even under conservative
estimates, the scientists said Arctic winter temperatures could
rise as much as 18 degrees Fahrenheit, eliminating year-round ice
completely by the end of the century.

In Canada’s Western Hudson Bay, where the sea ice season has
shortened by three weeks in recent decades, polar bears are already
in decline. Fewer cubs are surviving, and the total bear population
declined almost 14 percent from 1995 to 2004.

Global warming is caused by heat-trapping pollution such as
carbon dioxide emissions from cars and trucks, power plants, and
other sources that accumulates in the atmosphere and prevents the
sun’s heat from escaping. The United States is the largest world
contributor of those emissions.

First Petition is Ignored

The groups first petitioned to have the polar bear listed as
threatened last February. The Endangered Species Act requires that
the Secretary of the Interior respond within 90 days of receiving
such notice, but the Secretary has yet to comply. Today’s
announcement is a legally-required notice of intent to sue the
agency for action. Formal filing will occur after the agency has
had 60 days from today’s notice to comply with the law.

Listing under the United States Endangered Species Act will
provide broad protection to polar bears, including a requirement
that United States federal agencies ensure that any action carried
out, authorized, or funded by the United States government will not
“jeopardize the continued existence” of polar bears, or adversely
modify their critical habitat.

Earlier this year the International Union for the Conservation
of Nature/World Conservation Union’s Polar Bear Specialist Group —
the leading polar bear scientific body, recommended the bears be
classified as “Vulnerable” on the IUCN Red List of imperiled
wildlife at high risk of extinction in the wild. The primary
reason, they said, is global warming.

“If we want to save the majestic polar bear, we must cut global
warming pollution,” said Kert Davies of Greenpeace. “We have the
know how to fix the problem, but we need leadership from the U.S.
government to make it happen. Our addiction to dirty energy sources
will exact its price.”

# # #

Greenpeace is a non-profit corporation with 2.7 million members
worldwide that uses peaceful protest and creative communication to
expose global environmental problems and promote solutions for the
future.

The Center for Biological Diversity is a non-profit conservation
organization with over 14,000 members dedicated to the protection
of imperiled species and their habitats.

The Natural Resources Defense Council is a national, nonprofit
organization of scientists, lawyers and environmental specialists
dedicated to protecting public health and the environment. Founded
in 1970, NRDC has more than 1.2 million members and e-activists
nationwide, served from offices in New York, Washington, Santa
Monica and San Francisco.  

VVPR info: Further information regarding polar bears, global warming, and United States climate policy is available online at http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/species/polarbear/index.html, http://www.greenpeaceusa.org
http://www.nrdc.org

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