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Copyright Andrew Derocher, University of Alberta
A young polar bear on the shores of Hudson Bay in Manitoba, Canada in November waiting for the sea ice to re-form.
By Tanya Lewis, LiveScience
Polar bears, the iconic victims of climate change, are shifting their migration patterns because of changes in sea ice. The bears are arriving on land earlier and departing later, a new study found, and it's threatening their access to food.
A team of researchers studied the migration patterns of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) in Hudson Bay, Canada, using satellite-tracking data collected between 1991 and 1997 and 2004 and 2009. They found that the rate at which sea ice melts and re-freezes, as well as how the ice is distributed around the bay, predicted when the bears migrated onto or off of land. The findings are detailed March 19 in the Journal of Animal Ecology.
Animal ecologists have been trying to figure out how seasonal conditions in the environment affect animal migration patterns, and how climate change can redistribute resources that affect those patterns.
"Keeping track of when polar bears move on and off the ice is an important aspect of monitoring the risks to the population associated with climate change," study leader Seth Cherry, a graduate student in ecology at the University of Alberta, Canada, told LiveScience in an email.
Polar bears hunt their main food source, seals, primarily while on sea ice. Changes in the ice are driving the bears to spend more time on land, where they have to go longer without eating and rely on fat reserves to tide them over.
"Climate-induced changes that cause sea ice to melt earlier, form later, or both, likely affect the overall health of polar bears in the area," Cherry said. [10 Odd Facts About Arctic Sea Ice]
Cherry and colleagues fitted 109 female polar bears with tracking collars (males can't wear collars because their necks are wider than their heads). Putting a tracking collar on a polar bear is quite a feat. The researchers located the bears from a helicopter and flew in close to dart the bears. With the animals immobilized, the researchers attached the collars, which were equipped with GPS transmitters that beamed their location.
The scientists also took measurements in the form of blood samples and fat biopsies, which told them about the bears' diet and nutrition.
"When we look at the migration patterns of the collared bears, it appears as though bears in recent years are arriving on shore earlier in the summer and leaving later in the autumn," Cherry said. "These are precisely the kind of changes one would expect to see as a result of a warming climate."
The findings suggest that it's not only the distribution of sea ice that affects the bears' migration, but how quickly that ice melts or forms. When the ice melts in Hudson Bay, the bears spend longer on land, where they are essentially fasting. Pregnant females are particularly vulnerable, Cherry said, because when the other bears resume hunting in late November or early December, these females stay in dens on land to give birth to cubs and nurse them.
Follow Tanya Lewis on Twitter and Google+. Follow us @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on LiveScience.com.
- Images of Melt: Earth’s Vanishing Ice
- Gallery: Polar Bears Swimming in the Arctic Ocean
- The Reality of Climate Change: 10 Myths Busted
Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Leave a Comment:
Does anyone think about how much food is going to the human race at this point in time?Please think about how we are sqaundering our resouces!
Well, just maybe we should sacrifice one meal a day and send it to the polar bears...what da you think?
How about if we sacrifice one politician a month to the polar bears! Then we would both get a benefit!
I'm with Dan.
We cant turn this around...the polar bears will be gone in 15-25yrs.
We need to start learning about the changes of the earth through animals, like the polar bears.
Who cares. It's a f_cking bear.
Bobster - you should care because what happens to the f*cking bear, because what occurs with them will eventually move up the food chain to humans. Then, maybe you'll REALLY care.
I agree with Dan, but increase the number and dress them as seals. All the hot air coming out of the politicians is causing the global warming.
One politician a month? At that rate, we'll never be rid of them.
Who are we to think we know what is right for the Earth?
More animals have gone extinct than exist today, its a natural part of the Earth's change that has been going on since the beginning of time.
Hey Enviro Nazis, what is the perfect temperature for the Earth? Really suck to find out it's hotter than most species could endure.
@ClownsWillKillYou: We cant turn this around...the polar bears will be gone in 15-25yrs.
...Yeah, that was what they were saying when I was a kid in the 70s. We were also supposed to be out of gasoline by 2000.
I do think about it but try to tell anynone we need to reduce birth rate growth. The majority of the world's people think that they will by God have as many kids as they want. Our beautiful planet being poisoned and used up with no regret or even sympathy for the animals and plant life that are being wiped out.
Once again some liberal who thinks that mankind should just die and leave the world to "nature"! Tell you what, maybe you should be an example, huh?!
God should have rested on the 6th day.
Dan-
fight for freedom didn't say humans should die. He's stating a fact--humans are OVERpopulating and the birth rate needs to slow down at a healthier rate. You're putting YOURSELF into extinction if you think you can just multiply like crazy with no consequences. Humanity is NOT the only species that deserves to be here; and if we are going to remain here we HAVE to keep the ecosystem balanced WITH NATURE. It's not rocket science. You'll wish there were more "tree huggers" when the world looks like crap around you from everyone wiping it out and starvation is so common.
We have been experenicing this so-called climate change (a.k.a. actually, global warming) for some decades. We have the corporations to thank for ruining the atmosphere and the ozone layer, which is the root cause of altering weather patterns. It's all about corporate, IMMORAL GREED.
Your proof? Oh by the way warming seemed to have stopped 15 years ago! guess you don't keep up on current events.
Global-warming, climate change........ LMFAO!
I own 2 ocean-front houses in South Florida. Much like Al Gore's pecker, the water has not risen one inch in 10 years. The old-timers in the Keys say it has been 60 years and no rise in sea levels. Perhaps you liberal hippies are being duped by these kooky scientists who only survive on taxpayer-funded grants to study this nonsense? LOL!
Is it possible for you to be any more ignorant and foul mouthed at the same time? Get your head out of the sand Bob - no, wait a minute. Leave it there.
Ob,
So you doubt my sea level claim in the Keys? Prove it wrong Slappy.
Liberals. God love em! LOL!
Hey Observing, birthrate is down around the world, some countries are actually not replacing those dying. Moron!
You could fit the entire world's population into Texas, giving each person a half acre of land. Get real you Brainless Twit.
Overpopulation is a myth like Man Made Global Warming.
I see you had to attack Bob rather than refute his statement, typical Liberal Liar.
Not that I agree with everything the climate change people claim, but sea levels are rising, including the Keys. According to NOAA (http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/sltrends/sltrends.shtml), at about 2.24 mm/year, or nearly 0.1 inches per year. You probably don't see it because human perception doesn't very well recognize changes at that rate. But that would be about an inch in the 10 years you've been there, and about 6 inches in the 60 years those old-timers have been there.
Certainly nothing to worry about in the short term, but it is accellerating, and faster than what is suggested by many of the climate change models. What will definitely kick it in fast gear is when the glacial melt accellerates. If I was you, I'd sell those ocean-front properties before that happens. Will be harder down the road.
I bought both properties 10 years ago. My old neighbor who is like a 100, told me to put a stake in the ground where the water peaks at high tide. It has not moved since. He has stakes on his property that he claims put in 50 years ago or so. The water is at the same spot as well.
Sorry, but the sea is not rising in the Keys. My oceanfront home in Highland Beach is the same except the erosion is a problem here. But that has nothing to do with global warming.
Most reports say that the westernized countries are all in a birth decline. I've heard that for forty years yet we continue to build schools. I've also read that the Muslim countries have a positive birth rate, if you are not a Muslim that may not be such great news.
The vast majority of our growth is immigrants, illegal and otherwise. Without that we are barely treading water. One of the reasons socialism is imploding in the EU is there are fewer and fewer workers to support their aging population. Our socialist programs are failing for the same reason, just not as fast since our population is still growing a little.
I'm sure you've heard this before but it bears repeating; when SS began there were 17 workers per retiree, now there are 3 and soon 2. That is why changes are necessary. It is also why Medicare and Obamacare will bankrupt us if not radically changed.
Gen Y and beyond are wise to not count on SS for their retirement, they should also count on Medicare and Obamacare to be worthless.
The polar bear eat seals. The seals need the ice to rest on. The polar bear hunts on the ice for resting seals. If rate of melting ice is increasing, preventing the polar bear from hunting for resting seals, then it also means that the seals also have no place to rest while at sea. So my question is not about the bears but is about the seals ... what are the seals doing? What is the affect on the seal population? Is seal populations decreasing? Why don't the bears hunt for seals on land? Forget the bear ... follow the seals!
I watched a nature show recently on this exact thing. The seals swam to a rock island, and the polar bear had to swim a great distance just to reach that island. He was able to catch a seal, but it was much more difficult than normal. Polar bears hunt seals by surprising them, usually when they pop up through an ice hole for breath. I don't think the melting ice would be as detrimental to the seals as it would be to the polar bears.
All bears are omnivores and scavengers. When polar bears migrate near towns they raid the local dumps and people's houses if they can get in. Their preferred meal is seals but they will eat anything, this article is bogus.
Through the month of February, the Arctic gained 766,000 square kilometers of ice (296,000 square miles), which is 38% higher than the 1979 to 2000 average for the month...
The Arctic sea ice returned to the two standard deviation normal range @ the end of Feb 2013 and has remained there during Mar. Repeating the 2012 ice increases, which saw a historical high during Apr 2012...
The current negative Arctic Oscillation also impacts sea ice movement in the Arctic and promotes ice survival through summer by strengthening the Beaufort Gyre and thereby increasing the distribution of old, thick ice along coastal Alaska and Siberia...
reference - http: //nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/
@AC Robertson - Thanks for the reference, always helpful. Selective editing isn't so helpful. Below is the entire first part of that article (not snipping sentances out), including one of your clipped quotes. It's not quite as optimistic sounding as your selected quotes. It's actually a cool site. I like the map - we don't usually see the world from this pespective.
reference - http: //nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/
"Arctic sea ice is nearing its winter maximum and will soon begin its seasonal decline. Ice extent remains below average, in part a result of the persistence of the negative phase of the Arctic Oscillation that has kept winter temperatures warmer than average. The Antarctic passed its summer minimum ice extent, reaching the second highest level in the satellite record at this time of year, primarily due to continued higher-than-average ice in the Weddell Sea.
Overview of conditions
Figure 1. Arctic sea ice extent for February 2013 was 14.66 million square kilometers (5.66 million square miles). The magenta line shows the 1979 to 2000 median extent for that month. The black cross indicates the geographic North Pole. Sea Ice Index data. About the data
Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center
High-resolution image
Average sea ice extent for February 2013 was 14.66 million square kilometers (5.66 million square miles). This is 980,000 square kilometers (378,000 square miles) below the 1979 to 2000 average for the month, and is the seventh-lowest February extent in the satellite record. Since 2004, the February average extent has remained below 15 million square kilometers (5.79 million square miles) every year except 2008. Prior to 2004, February average extent had never been less than 15 million square kilometers. Ice extent remains slightly below average everywhere except the Bering Sea."
Apparently the map won't copy to these posts. It looked like it would.
Once again the poor polar bears are starving! Why is it that with the latest polar bear census that the population is going up? Just another "made up" crisis for the global warmers to puke!
so much for global warming theory
Scott-369576,
You have to watch how they present their written data &/or opinion...
If you look @ the up-dated graphic, the shaded area is considered the NORM not the median line...
The two standard deviation 'normal range' is there due to the inaccuracies of their historical data...
I present the references so the inquisitive people can read the entire article and form their own opinions from the data. Too much writing causes many to IGNORE...
Sorry AC no facts are allowed here... We don't use then for selecting a president so why should we use them for anything else...
Yes, you do have to watch how it is presented. The gain in sea ice extent is larger than average, but the actual extent is far below the average. I'll quote from the same site, for convenience:
It is not the gain (or loss) each year, not even the year-by year extent. Some years there is more sea ice, other years less. But look at the long term trend. If you scroll down the rest of the webpage, you can see the trend drom 1979 to present. Definitely downward trending. Here's the link to the website so you don't have to cut and paste.
http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/
I will attempt to explained the
apparent contradition above for all but the simplest; The confusion
that people have with terms such as Global Warming when in fact
locations on earth experience record cold at times. As someone with a
medical background let me explain it another way; Global warming is
the disease and climate change is symptomatic of that disease.
Extreme warming, or cooling, are both possibilities, but neither are
the disease they are merely symptoms. It is always premature to
mistake the symptoms for the actual disease. In the same manner to
treat the symptoms and not the disease is purely palliative. As an
emerging disease, never before examined by man, both the course of
the disease, and its outcome are unknown. But it is likely that it is
a chronic condition; The nature of a chronic condition being that
long asymptomatic periods are followed by short dramatic acute
periods wherein rapid decline is a real possibility. Also questions
will remain concerning the final outcome of the disease till the
disease runs it's course; But it's likely that will not lead to the
death of the patient,( the Earth,) but some of the patients systems,(
the Human race,) may well be altered to the point that those systems
will no longer resemble their current status. As with the diagnosis
of any disease, and certainly one never before seen, the immediate
reaction is one of denial followed by anger. Acceptance is the final
stage in the palliative process, and often does not arrive until the
end is near.
Really it all is as simple as high
school biology; Take a dish, add bacteria and a medium, and the
bacteria will expand till the dish is uninhabitable. Or fundamental
physiology; The functions of living systems are carried out by their
constituent structures. As physiologist Claude Bernard observed in
1854, “ The stability of the internal environment is the primary
condition for a free and independent existence.” It is quite simple
to see how the basis of cellular homeostasis also applies to the
organism; Regardless of whether that organism is a one-celled
bacterium or a solar system.
Meanwhile those of you that continue to
be in denial; Enjoy yourselves.....It's later than you think.
The raw data does not support the fear mongering, sorry. As with everything, if someone is trying to scare you into something follow the money.
What the deniers don't realize is that it is not about the polar bears, it is about us. Corn and soybean crops in the U.S. basically failed last year due to drought. Think about it.
A perfect example of a pointless
comment;
The raw data does not support the fear mongering,
What data? None given.
As with everything,
Really? Everything?
if someone is trying to scare you into something
follow the money.
It's that simple? I guess it's safe to crawl back under my rock
now.
Yea that Polar Bear looks like he is starving, all b.s.. These tree huggers should all move to a vacated island and live off the shrubs. FYI, today 21 degrees last year 76 degrees same day, guess this must have something to do with global warming!
You sir, are an ignorant jackass
And what do you call someone who does not even attempt to debate their point and just insult?
When the warmers result to personal attacks, it means they can't support their statements of woe and alarm.
Meanwhile, over on the national broadcast news, people across the Midwest and new England continue to complain about yet another winter storm blowing through and dumping more snow.
People who allow their pets to starve are called criminal, and some were send to jail for cruelty to animals!!! Does the SPCA plan to send god to jail for starving the polar bears?
We should legalized hunting polar bearsto limit the population. The bear tag should be high enough to pay for its conservation and many seal farms to feed the polar bears as needed.
Why is it that I doubt everything that comes from NBC? Is it because they edited George Zimmerman's 911 call to make him look like a racist or because they hired the known racist Al Sharpton as a commentator? If it comes from NBC, you can be sure is Obama-worshipping, socialist BS.
RE: DB, Al Sharpton can kiss my azz!
They also doctored a tape during the congressional gun control debate and got caught. What a bunch of low life's.
Take some pictures while you can, temp may be changing,but you have delusions of grandure if you think you can slow it
Despite all the angst and argument, nothing can be done about the polar bears. They will have adapt or die. They seem to have been able to survice the last Ice Age and the preceding warm period just fine.
While they are wasting time and money playing in the helicopter and shooting at them and studying them and photgraphing them all of that is fine and good but,a food drop? OH! That would be interfering! Such a waste.
What if we just drop Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid! Sounds like a win-win to me!
Dan:
Why do you want to poison the polar bears?
Dan! You want to poison the bears? becks, the bears don't eat till they return to the ice, they come into contact with humans and our pets while they are waiting are we are relatively safe from them.
The bears will eat anywhere there is food, ice or no ice. Humans are definitely NOT safe from polar bears.
It amazes me that if these people have time to sit on their azzes and study bears then why is it not possible to bring food for them? what the hell is wrong with humanity? We feed our cattle, horses and hogs so why not the hungry bears?
Humanity is not that intelligent...
Alonelyoldman,they don't eat while they are waiting. They come into contact with humans and we are relatively safe.
They will have to change what they lie to eat,,,,,maybe,,,,,,,People!
Soilent Green?
Global warming?? -28C in Saskatchewan today! Record snow fall this winter! Please send some global warming weather. Since the ban on seal products our east coast is polluted with seals. Lets move the bears to the east coast! Hungry maybe, bears are always hungry! If they were starving there'd be no bears already. That's the way nature works. A few bears die seal populations grow. Bear populations come back seal population declines! It's called nature and it ain't always pretty!!
I keep wondering how they survive during the summer up there when the days are long and the ice is undergoing seasonal melt.
If I were a liberal (which I am not), I would be insulted that the people that I elected see me, a as a gullible fool.
Follow the money and you will see none of this has anything to do with science, it is all about another source of tax revenue.
Research Obamas proposed budget, you will see that he counted on "heavily" on CAP AND TAX....700 billion!
When proposed first, we had GLOBALLY, one of the coldest years on record, and so it inexplicably MORPHED from "global warming" to "climate change".
Climate CHANGE....so no matter what the weather is.....it changes....brilliant!
I can't believe that they wasted time and money on this study. Any drunk in a local bar could have told them as much. Duh! The ice melts, the seals go to land. The bears get hungry, they follow the seals. End of study. Too many bears the seals decline. Not enough seals the bears decline. It is a natural rhythm of nature. Send me $50,000,000.00 and you are welcome. I too have the B.S., M.S., and a P.H.D. Bull Sh--, More Sh--. and Piled Higher and Deeper. As for climate change, where I live we call it weather. It is nearly as warm as it was in the twelfth century, before the Mini-Ice Age. You remember your history? That was when the great cities of Europe were built. According the N.A.S.A. the whole solar system is getting warmer. Do you really believe you can turn down the sun? Good luck on that one.
The problem with all these studies and statements by so called "experts", is that they expect us to believe all the so called faux "scientific" poo that they fling at us. A little bit of independent research shows we are being fed a ration of BS.
This is truely sad in so many ways I really can't count all because of what man has done to Planet Earth and now these wonderful animals are paying for humans have done.
Can't food be dropped to feed these beautiful animals so they won't starve?
I don't know what to say anymore but something needs to done and done NOW and that is a fact.
Really Carol?.....really?....Read my post I was trying to EASE your conscious.......
......you are not to blame just because you had the misfortune to be born an "evil human".
Man is not destroying the planet....simply by birth......think Carol think......
When the planet was in its "infancy"....volcanoes spewed far more "carbons" into the air than all the carbons that have been spewed since industrialization began....quit allowing yourself to be played through your emotions....and follow the money ..................behind this HOAX.
Carol, pull your head out of your butt and go live in the real world for a change and you will see how utterly ridiculous your idea is.
Things change always have and always will. There used to be dinosaurs... Greenland used to be green. People used to be personally responsible and feel shame. Wow how things have changed...
Gee, I just wonder how these bears survived when the same event happened back in the 1840's and then again in the 1960's? And in the 1970's they were telling us a new Ice Age was coming..They all must have been wiped out back then, so where did these Bears come from? The Zoo's?? Sheeple...disgust me. My source? Old National Geographic Magazines.. I remember then the "hand wringers" and "Doomsayers" were crying about the end of the world and that we had to many people on the Planet and it was because of all the Smoke we put in the Air and well the exact same gibberish their spouting now..AND if our Government was REALLY worried, as in the Obama Administration, how come every Government owned facility is NOT 100% GREEN..I mean Obama's buddy Soro's has a lot of money invested in Green Energy Production faculties and such...Just another Scam from the pantie twisters and chicken Little's out there...and of course those who want to make Money off scaring people...primarily Research Scienctists who have been right yet...Reminds me of the American Cancer Society where only $1. dollar out of every $7. raised actully goes to Research..You think when their stuffing their pockets with all that Cash their in any kind of hurry to find "A Cure"...I doubt it....
Mmm. that should be "Primarily Research Scientists who have NOT been right yet" and My Source, Old National Geographic Magazines and a number of books written by assorted Explorers, Trappers, and Miners who noticed the changes...But I guess they don't count cause their weren't properly trained Scientists with Million dollar grants and lots of over priced expensive lab machines and computers, Back then they used their own minds and, eyes.. How extraordinary!!
eddie- I just looked out the door and it is cold at my house and I see ice. All is well.
Eddie,
My neighbor in the Florida Keys is an old guy who loves to whip out his old magazine, newspaper, etc. clippings whenever some hippy-dippy scientist tries to do some ridiculous study about global warming. These clippings are from the 1950's and 60's. They are hilarious to read! LOL! These "scientists" who wrote the articles are from Harvard, NASA, US fed govt, National Geographic, etc. They all agree that the Keys will be underwater by 1980!! LOLOLOLOLOL!!!
What's truly amazing that there is an entire new generation of these kooks who believe the same nonsense! LMFAO!!
Typical of most research, it depends on who is funding the research as to what the findings are.
What a bunch of gibberish.
-27C March 20,2013 and record snow fall this winter in southern Saskatchewan Canada! Please send some global warming!! Since the ban on seal products our seal populations have exploded on the east coast. I know we need to move the bears to the east coast. Bears may be hungry (Bears are always hungry) but if they are starving like people have been saying for the last umpting years they’d all be dead. Some bears die seal population comes back. Bear population increases seal population decreases! It’s called nature and it ain’t always pretty! People we don’t need to feed the bears!!
Sucks to be Polar bear
These freaking bunny loving tree huggers think nature is so peaceful. It is anything but peaceful. On one hand they dont want the bears to starve but on the other they could care less about overpopulated deer herds starving to death. They dont want to see that nature is very cyclical with booms and busts in population from a variety of factors.
Just like when they don't want us to shoot and eat deer. Then they bitch about their flowers and trees being eaten when the deer overpopulate in the city limits...
Tell that to the starving children in Africa
Government grant money is why they sit on their a$$es and harass polar bears. Leave the bears alone... chasing them all over the ice floes are causing the hunger and weight loss. BTW when seals don't have ice to rest on, they will pulled themselves up on the shoreline to be killed by the polar bear waiting on them. Everyone happy ??
I'm concerned but from what I read and keep reading from news posts on this topic, the bears are finding ways to stay alive. Yes, their migration is being affected and eventually the food source will become so low that we will see "starved to death' bears. But currently, they are doing what animals do to survive. I'm sure the female bears will probably have slower birth rates which will reduce the number of bears and that means an evening out of food sources to some degree. In short.... nature will find a way. When it has used up all its resources, then humankind will have to intervene or the bear will become extinct in the wild and only be seen in zoos. Hopefully we'll intervene before that happens. We did wonderful things with the wolves, condors, and bisons. We are neither liberal or conservative or... dare I say it... animals. This issue will not go overlooked by us or nations.
"Nature will find a way?" That same naive perspective is what has led to the extinction of so many animals on our watch.
When the human race pulls too much crap the earth will just start a plague and wipe out a few million to make way and clean up...
Rather ironic that there is an ad for Jimmy Dean sauages next to this article. Factory farming of animals for food is the single largest pollution source to cause global warming, from methane gas depleting the ozone layer. Compounding matters are the massive amounts of fossil fuels required, for: grain harvesting and transport, breeding, growing, slaughter and retail distribution.
The quickest change we can implement is to reduce the consumption of animals. This would take a lot of mouths out of the food chain. Not only would this help the polar bears have an ice habitat from which they can find food, but the rates of heart disease and obesity would drop dramatically, which would reduce the out of control health care costs shouldered by taxpayers.
Jerry,
Brilliant dude. Let's starve the humans to save a few thousand polar bears. And never, ever try to take away my Jimmy Dean sausage links.
Liberals. God love em! LOL!
I guess you missed the part about how grain and water dependant animals are, to become food. And how we can feed infinitely more people on a plant-based diet. Think: Morning Star veggie sausages, 1/4 pound veggie burgers, etc. Most cannot tell the difference. If you are a true conservative, you would be thinking less about your own selfish wants, and working toward the greater good, while trying to conserve what little there is to feed 7 billion people and growing. If you really are worried about humans starving, you should take the animals out of the food chain. It is better for your health, the animals suffering and the environment. Conservative = Conservationist. Get it?
There was a time when thrift was
considered a conservative value. That was before conservatism became
a front for greed, self-aggrandizement, and shoving one's moral
values down other people's throats.