By: Andrew Bouchard
Polar bears are often the animal that represents global warming because they are largely at risk. They are at risk of extinction due to climate change. The season where the water is covered with ice is getting shorter and it is decreasing the availability of their main food source, the ringed seal. Since they cannot get food for a longer part of the year, they are beginning to starve.
Researchers Linda Gormezano and Robert Rockwell from the American Museum of Natural History have done research that shows that polar bears have found new food sources and have been feeding off of geese and caribou. Polar bears are adapting to their new climate.
During summer and spring, the ice starts to come back in. During this time, they have to live on land and are living off of their accumulated weight. The ice free season (the season when there is no ice on the water) has gone from 120 to 180 days and 28 to 48 percent of adult polar bears starve unless they can find food.
Caribou is a great source of food for polar bears because an adult caribou can hold a polar bear off for 27 days and a baby can hold them off for 8 days. Geese eggs are much less filling than caribou but they are also much easier to get. Polar bears are master opportunists. They are known for snacking on anything from berries to whale carcasses. In some places across the world, they have even recorded polar bears going after small bull walruses.
This may mean in the years to come that we will be seeing a decrease in the populations of geese and caribou but this remains to be seen. But, polar bears have to do what they need to do to survive. Like Charles Darwin said, this is survival of the fittest.
http://www.popsci.com/polar-bears-might-survive-ice-melting-by-hunting-new-prey
1. Polar bears food sources are becoming less available. What are some similar ways in which human’s food sources and production have to adapt to climate change? Explain your answer.
2. Polar bears are losing their territory due to climate change. In what other ways are humans influencing the loss of animal territories? Explain your answer.
1-An example would be like farming because the food that is in the farms needs like sun and need to be like on grass and need water and need a special place so that food could not be on ice because of the conditions and because of the temperature there is.
ReplyDeleteQuestion 1
ReplyDeleteI think that global warming is not affecting polar bears, it also is affecting us and our food. Our food is getting affected because in the agriculture spot the warm climate is drying al the surface and in some cases the cold weather is killing all the plants. Is the same effect in rising cows or animals because they can die because the global warming.
2-Like some people want to built their houses their and that's not good place to have their houses their so the houses keep space and also to build they have to destroy part of the territory and also like it is pollution because of climate change.
ReplyDeleteQuestion 2
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion i think that we are destroying animals homes when we build new apartments and houses. When we throw garbage to the streets or to the sea we are taking away their house to some animals. In this article i learned new things that i will never imagine of the polar bear.
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ReplyDeletehuman food production is becoming less avaible because of the climate change because the food is adapted to is climate to growth. So if the climate change is getting hotter, some plant won't be able to grow and the same effect will happened if its getting colder.
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ReplyDeletethe reason is that we are sometime poluated their territory exemple, boat that dropped oil in the ocean and it affect the animal territory. also, we keep trowing trash on animal territory and it affect the animal and make the animal leave is territory. so that is how we pollutes animal territory.
1- I think that as the animals as the humans are being affected by global warming. they are losing their food as much as we do, polar bears have to adapted to a lot of changes and so humans. for example: We have to adapt to the days that there is no rain for the plants to grow, or the farming people to cultivate their seeds and all that kind of things.
ReplyDelete2-the humans have most of the guilt of polar bears and some other animals losing their territories or the places where they live, because we kind of cause all the pollution and we destroy all their territories by contamination or other things. We are kind of building houses and parks, shopping malls, etc. and when we build that we destroy the place where animals used to live.
In my opinion depending on which season we are we have a different types of fruits, if we are in the north if the height grows they will have more opportunities to cultivate different thing for a longer time
ReplyDeleteHumans have destroy forest, beach to benefit themselves, they never thought about the animals that live there, they construct hotels, restaurants and other entertainments where animals once lived there.
1- I think that by certain climate changes animal and plants tend to shut down. Most animals in the winter go to into hibernation during so that closes some options for meat, not majorly but somewhat. Plants also shut down during the winter, so that decreases the amount of fruits and plants.
ReplyDelete2- I think that most of animal loss is due to hunting and and climate change as well. Hunting has grown popular. Hunting has killed so many animals, Deer, bear, moose, etc. have been killed just by humans wanting food and pride. Also when some large business comes into a rural town to start building, that takes away these animals homes and environment. When this happens to animals they don't know what to do and end up harmed and dying.
1. Human food will come less and less common because when you have oranges in Florida and it becomes hotter the quality will change and same thing with other farms. So it is the same thing happening with the polar bears the food will change and I will bee more rare.
ReplyDelete2. Polar bears are losing territory because of global warming but on the other side humans are wining territory because wee don't like living in the cold weather.
1. the global warming affect us as the animals, in the similar ways. As the polar bears have less foods, we have less foods which grows in the colder place, like potatoes grow in colder places.
ReplyDelete2. The polar bears are losing their place to live because of the global warming, and the ice melts. And that water which was an ice before makes the water level gets higher and the land which we lives starts sinking a litle by litle. Also, there are so many population, and thats another reason why people are losing their place to live.
1. The polar bears are getting less food s also we are getting less foods because the Earth is warming up like we are losing ground vegetable or fruit. Like this year we were losing apples
ReplyDelete2. We humans also made things worst by hunting fishing and invading their territory so we can enjoy our selves or we need to survive. Also it is happening slowly in the seas and in water. Bacteria and disease carrying through the water.
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