E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSA recent voyage by the National Geographic Explorer ship to the Arctic captured a female polar bear fighting a male for food. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports on the trip, which allowed experts to evaluate the environmental changes in the Arctic.
Wildlife biologist Ian Bullock is a seasoned visitor to the Arctic, but even he was surprised by what he saw last month: a thin female polar bear, shadowed by her cub, trying to challenge a much bigger, stronger male for food.
It wasn't much of a challenge, but it showed just how desperate she was, Bullock told NBC News on returning from his 10th straight summer cruise to the Arctic.
That desperation, he feels, stems from the fact that the Arctic's summer sea ice — which polar bears using as floating stations from which to hunt seals — has been shrinking over the last few decades due to a warming Arctic, forcing polar bears into smaller areas and more intense competition.
"She was the thinnest female with cub I have ever seen," he said. "She had a single cub which implies she has already lost one other cub this year.
"If she cannot feed, she cannot suckle her cub; with a hungry cub it is even harder for her to hunt effectively, so from what I saw her last cub is at risk and ultimately so is she," he added. "This is why she was challenging a big male with food. She was hungry enough to take a big risk."
In a video filmed during the National Geographic Explorer cruise to the Arctic's Svalbard region, Bullock said it looks like that reduced ice is "really putting the bears under stress."
"The worst thing is when we've encountered bears, we've found them really packed in tight, in the last little areas of fast ice attached to land, or the last little patches of pack ice at sea," said Bullock, who served as a guide on the cruise ship. "And there they've been in competition."
Polar bears are listed as "vulnerable" and in decline by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which estimates the population at no more than 25,000 across the Arctic.
The U.S., which has two Arctic regions where polar bears live, in 2008 listed its population as "threatened".
Last year, researchers cited three incidents where polar bears might even have resorted to cannibalism due to warming and reduced sea ice.
The diminished sea ice also got the attention of the National Geographic Explorer's skipper.
Captain Leif Skog told NBC News that he had e-mailed his boss, Sven Lindblad of Lindblad Expeditions, to describe "a shocking escalation of the reduction of sea ice."
One data graph he monitored daily, showing the total volume of Arctic sea ice, "could be called the death spiral of the Arctic sea ice," he said in his e-mail to Lindblad.
Because of the reduced sea ice, he added, the cruise was able to visit northeast Greenland "a month earlier than what was normal in the past."
"We expected to face some sea ice but everything was gone in the fjords upon our arrival," he added. "The sea water temperature in the fjords was also unbelievably high."
Another expert on the cruise called the outside temperature "surprisingly warm."
"It was T-shirt weather," Paul Berkman, an environmental science professor at the University of California Santa Barbara, told NBC News. Berkman noted two other major Arctic developments over the summer:
- The amount of summer sea ice reached its lowest point in 30 years of records.
- Nearly the entire surface of Greenland's ice cap saw some melting in July, a phenomenon not seen in 150 years of ice records.
Berkman said the polar regions, and the Arctic in particular, show an "amplified response" to a warming climate ahead of other parts of the globe.
That response is twofold, he adds: Arctic temperatures have warmed 3-6 degrees F above the global average, and reduced ice removes huge amounts of reflective white from the sea and reveals a dark sea that absorbs heat.
The sea ice is like "a giant mirror on Earth's surface" he said. "Without summer Arctic sea ice, more heat from the sun is absorbed into the Earth system, which is a feedback that further accelerates warming of our climate."
More world stories from NBC News:
- Protesters storm US Embassy in Yemeni capital
- Libya pledges to help US catch American officials' killers
- US won't rule out Islamist link in killing of US ambassador to Libya
- US Ambassador Chris Stevens was 'courageous and exemplary,' Obama says
- Despite dark past, young Israelis seek new lives in German capital
- No Obama-Netanyahu meeting as rift over Iran widens
Leave a Comment:
Unfortunately the republicans does not understand or believe in global warming.
D-man, please be the first to show us the way. Park your car, turn your thermostat off, stop buying groceries grown and shipped with evil carbon. Live off tree bark and grass and stop being a hypocrite.
Hey where did the Wooly Mammoths go?
I dont understand why scientists who go out on these trips to survey the polar bears cant bring food along. There is so much road kill and meat that we waist everyday when we could be feeding these poor animals. Instead of watching them starve, how about someone do something to try and feed them???
moronic
I have the answer. We can show Bristol and I hunting on our realitty show.
-S Palin
Hey Clotho -heck no, it is not Barry's fault. It is Bush's fault, just like everything else. Nothing is Barry's fault -he is the great Messiah!
Glen Beck doesn't care. I listen to everything he says.
And then Sarah Plain added DUH and I became convinced.
Sarah Palin is anything but plain.
S Palin is a hottie.
Ok, she's also dense. Prove me wrong.
I have a novel idea: Lets take the worst criminals in the world, you know those who are sentenced to death anyway, and drop them off with no means to defend themselves, (much like most of their victims) right in the middle of these starving bears.
The bears get fed,and the criminals are executed. Problem solved!
Natural Progression, what happens in the wild stays in the wild. I would think that a few PETA folks and some of you Nature Lovers could go up there and feed the Bears. I'm sure they are not vegetarian so be mighty careful !!! P.S. You can not out run one of these carnivores so make sure things have been tidied up before you go.
I think we shouild all kill ourselves so the Polar Bears can live.
The world is getting warmer but there is no data as to the real cause. The ultimate source of virtually all heat on the Earth comes from the sun. Our sun has a variable output. Look up Maunder minimums and maximums. The world has been significantly hotter and significantly cooler without any involvement of mankind. CO2 is not the primary cause of temperature increases. It is not even the most potent greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. We need to make preparations for a hotter planet because we will be unable to do anything about the heat rather than waste time and money on foolish plans like cap and trade Co2 credits. CO2 only absorbs a small range of sunlight frequency and turns that into heat. The wavelength that gets converted to heat by CO2 is already completely converted to heat in the atmosphere. Adding more CO2 will not convert any more sunlight to heat because the maximum has already been converted by the current level of CO2. And we are lucky that it is so because emerging nations like China, India, Brazil and many others are only going to produce more CO2 in the future and increase atmospheric levels. Even if you were to completely eliminate the US CO2 production atmospheric levels would not go down. The rate of increase would slow. But total levels will continue to rise despite idiotic non solutions like cap and trade because worldwide production will not cease or decline. It will be impossible to slow even US production of CO2 without causing an even worse economic meltdown that we are already suffering.
Global warning is real. Trying to fix it by eliminating CO2 is a pipedream not supported by any conclusive research. We should use our resources to prepare for a hotter earth to mitigate the effects of a hotter period which is inevitably going to follow. Stop building in areas of low lying coastal zones. Plan on farming further north because our cornbelt may get too hot to farm effectively. Build better insulated houses. Require solar panels on all new construction in areas where there is enough yearly sun to justify the cost. Forget about saving polar bears. They will adapt or die and as did their brown bear ancestors when the ice sheets formed. Wake up people and take real steps to reduce the impact of global warming which we cannot stop. Take your heads out of the sand and face the real problem.
I love how the recalcitrant corporate/Christian argument has changed over the past few years.
It used to be "The Earth is not warming. You can't prove it!".
Now that the warming part has been proven, the self-same, agenda-driven people have showed their colors by modifying their argument to fit the new facts. Now it's: "Well, yeah, I guess it is actually getting hotter...and, yeah, I guess the polar ice caps really are melting...but, it's "climate change", not "global warming". Man has nothing to do with it!"
I won't even bother to point out the irony in the fact that a bunch of people who believe an alien created the world 6000 years ago in 6 days are now shouting for "evidence" and referring to alleged "scientific disagreement" regarding global warming. Their entire belief system defies science.
Really, I just wanted to note the humor in how these agenda driven people will continuously modify their arguments to support their preconceived positions. It's like whack-a-mole arguing with these people. Next it'll be, "Okay, so you've shown that the Earth is actually warming and you've shown that man is causing the warming to some extent, but you haven't shown me conclusively that cutting out coal/gasoline combustion will fix it! (points at corporate payroll scientists) Scientists disagree!!!".
Is there no way we can just say (at least to the Christian element): "Look, you choose to believe the world was created 6000 years ago in 6 days out of nothing by an alien...you choose to believe woman was created from man's rib and some mud to be man's servant....you choose believe women menstruate because an alien wearing a serpent cloaking device tricked the first woman into eating an apple. Okay, fine. That's all well and good. I used to believe a fat man climbed down my chimney every Christmas to deliver me elf-made presents and that a large, pink bunny hid chocolate eggs in my yard during the Spring. I get it. Beliefs are beliefs. But...You don't get to have an opinion on any matter relating to science. We'll cast your vote as an 'abstention'."
They just move a little slower than the rest of us. Half speed from my measurements.
Here in the Chicago land area we have an over population of deer, I know of other cities that have the same situation. It's too bad we can't find a way to ship the road kill deer up there, we would feed tigers & lions at a small suburban zoo this way.
Just a thought, I hate the thought of a miracle of nature possibly fading away.
Stinking propaganda. The bears have been hi-ber-nat-ing. Of course they're thin. Bears don't have to have 2 cubs, was the moron there when she gave birth? And the carcass had fins, meaning it's an aquatic animal. Is there too little ice for the fish? Why don't you stick your yellow journalism where your brains are, and save on toilet paper!
Gerald, you do realize that it has been the SUMMER up in the Artic...they were not hibernating. You are an a-hole!
Maybe Gerald has been hibernating? Missed the drought all summer as well?
2 things a denier must have :
A . An ignorance of nature.
B. A contempt of nature.
Doubting the scientific consensus that the earth is warming mainly due to human activity, is just like those who doubted the science linking smoking and lung cancer as recently as the 1980s. I have elected not to have children because I fear that the future is going to be very bleak in the coming years because of human caused global warming.
The climate of this rock has been changing over and over again over a billions of years. We are a mere blip on this planets radar. Species will always come and go. New species will arise old species will die out. It's all part of this planets make up. Nothing we can do about it.
I'm conservative and I am willing to agree with the libs that the climate is warming.........if..........they are willing to pull theirs heads out of the sand and agree that we've been warming and cooling for millions of years............and...................we are at the bottom of the temp grid for the current warming trend............ie...........it has gotten a lot warmer and a lot cooler than it is currently..............and...............none of it has ever been man made. The fraud from the libs is that this is the first time since the Big Bang that the earth has ever faced this climate change and that it's all man made.
What if humans have exacerbated it? Have made it worse or come sooner? I agree, the planet has gone through changes, but the thought that 9 billion people (can you even visualize that many?) have absolutely nothing to do with it seems far fetched. Humans have cut down millions of trees. They have polluted the oceans and the air. They breath and eat and defecate. They drive. They heat their homes. They burn wood or the rainforests.
I don't see how anyone with any common sense could think that all this has no effect at all. I don't see why conservatives are not conservationists as well, but they aren't. They seem to want to use the planet up to make money. MHO of course.
When making assertions of fact ("first time ...the earth has ever faced ..climate change"), it would help if you would provide citations to where it was said, otherwise it is just your opinion. MHO!
Any 5th grade science book will lay out the basic facts on Climate change, Ice Ages, warming, Continental Drift, etc. No citations needed. The fact that there have been 4- 5 Ice Ages, followed by periods of Global Warming, with continents slamming into each other, with forests in Antarctica and ice in the Sahara, Chicago area under miles of Ice, east coast under water, coastal property in Kansas, etc...should be a "given" within these discussions. But obviously not.
Yea right, poor starving polar bears.
-the millions of dead seals that get eaten by polar bears every year
I would really love to hear again from the scientific communities.... what impacted the climate and caused all those drastic changes in the environment BEFORE THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION???
Might just be me, but it looks like Mama Bear is trying to keep Papa Bear away from Baby Bear, especially if it ain't his kid. Papa looks kinda skinny, but, was this taken before hybernating time, or when he was at his peak?
The world is heating up thanks to ALL OF US humans, WE cause global warming, it's NOT all Bush's and the Repubicans fault all you dems need to get with the TRUTH!!
Just saying...
GO ROMNEY 2012!!!
LOWEST LEVEL OF SEA ICE IN 30 YEARS?!?!?
You mean it was lower 30 years ago... and then rose?? and has lowered again??? Global warming 30 years ago increased the amount of sea ice for a while... and it has started to decrease it now, What is the science in that?
An idiot is someone that reads a cute story about bears or sees a movie like JFK and now thinks they have all the answers. Don't pass up the tabloids on the way out of Walmart.
All of the fine Rs know there is no Global Warming caused by man --- God told them so, plus a few nut job "scientists." Who cares about any of the animals left out in the warm, you know, the warming we didn't cause -- it's just a normal earth cycle. Don't pay attention to the fact that the last 8 months have been the warmest on record -- just lies anyway, spouted by scientists needing more funding.
Let's just keep pushing out more and more people needing more and more stuff, demanding the end to EPA and science. God will take care of us --- you bet He will sooner or later, but you may not like it.
"warmest on record" means "since man starting recording". Do you know how long that is. Look it up. Also, "warmest on record" does not mean "warmest ever!" Does not....and IS NOT ! Look that up too !
more BS from the hate humans group....
How horribly sad. What humans have done to the lovely planet we were given to care for. We should be ashamed, but instead will continue our selfish and greedy ways until we destroy it all.
And don't look for any help from the 'Conservatives', they think anyone who wants to save the planet is 'anti-human'. This from the people who think corporations are humans. The people I know who are concerned about the environment are the ones who care the most for people because they want to leave a viable planet to future generations, while apparently those who deny humans are changing this planet don't care what is left as long as they get "theirs" now. And of course it could be they think they will be 'saved' because all of this is just a sign of the Apocalypse. Denying they had anything to do with it of course as they drive their gas guzzling cars and promote disbanding the EPA.
My heart breaks for all the animals of this planet. And for the humans suffering for the choices of their fellow human. There are also humans starving on this planet. And more suffering to come.
I know that the planet has suffered mass extinction before, but this is different. I feel that yes, climate change would probably have come, but I also feel that the cumulative effects of 9 billion plus people using resources (eating, defecating, urinating, driving cars, heating homes, making garbage, etc.), and generally trashing and polluting the Earth has a lot to do with what is happening right now.
Wake up! But then it may already be too late.
Maybe you can move up there and care for them. Sounds like they need help.
Those evil humans how dare they live.
The current warm up started over 10,000 years ago, those damn cave men burning wood to stay warm, and cook their grub.
Fact is the oldest ice on earth is only 1 million years old.
But I did read on another blog it is Bushs fault.
So in about 5 billions years from now when the sun becomes a red giant and engulfs the planet whos fault will that be?
If you think that humans control the climate, you need more than help.