It seems inevitable. Could they be saved? Polar bears are disappearing, and has a direct relationship with the reduction of sea ice caused by climate change. Researchers at Toronto Scarborough developed a model. Discover that the decrease in the population is the result that bears do not obtain enough energy. It is due to a lack of food caused by shorter hunting seasons in the increasingly reduced sea ice.
“The loss of sea ice means that bears spend less time hunting seals and more time fasting on the ground.” Louise Archer says, researcher and main author of the study, published in Science. «This negatively affects the energy balance of bears. It leads them to a reduction in reproduction, of the survival of the puppies and, ultimately, to the decrease of the population ».

Smaller bears
It tracks the amount of energy that the bears currently obtain from the hunting of seals and the amount of energy they need to grow and reproduce. They follow the full life cycle of each polar bear. And compare it with four decades of monitoring data of the population of polar bears.
The population of polar bears in this region decreased almost 50 percent. The average size of polar bears is also decreasing. The body mass of adult females was reduced in 39 kg. One of the puppies of one year, in 26 kg
«If there is less ice, there is less time to eat and less energy in general. When we do the calculations, we obtain an almost accurate coincidence with what we are seeing in real life ». Shorter hunting periods result in mothers producing less milk. Puppies do not gain enough weight.

Less ice
“It is quite simple: the survival of the puppies directly affects the survival of the population,” says Archer. The Western Bay of Hudson is an indicator of the populations of polar bears worldwide. The Arctic is heated at a rhythm four times faster than the world average. What possibilities do they have to survive?
Polar bears are disappearing. «There are reasons to believe that what is happening to polar bears in this region will also happen to polar bears in other regions. They say the projected paths of loss of sea ice. This model basically describes its future ».
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