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Polar Bear Environment

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Polar bears are the largest land carnivores in the world. Polar bears are marine mammals, and spend much of their time on Arctic sea ice. Many adaptations make polar bears uniquely suited to life in icy habitats and Polar bears feed almost exclusively on ringed seals and bearded seals. They are also known to eat walrus, beluga whale and bowhead whale carcasses, birds’ eggs, and (rarely) vegetation. Polar bears travel great distances in search of prey. (defender,2017). Polar bears succeed in catching their prey in only 2 percent of their attempts. (LiveSCI, 2014).

This high-calorie meal helps the bears build up fat reserves, which keep polar bears healthy between feedings and help maintain their body temperature. According to PBS Nature, polar …show more content…

Ecological Importance

Over thousands of years, polar bears have also been an important part of the cultures and economies of Arctic peoples. Polar bears depend on sea ice for their existence and are directly impacted by climate change—serving as an important indicator species.

The loss of sea ice habitat from climate change is the biggest threat to the survival of polar bears. Other key threats include polar bear-human conflicts, unsustainable hunting and industrial impacts. Climate change is also resulting in more habitat fragmentation. As Arctic ice melts, polar bears are affected by increased shipping

activities and a rise in opportunities for oil and gas development. (WWF,2017)

As the Climate Changes

Understanding causes and consequences of climate-related shifts in ecosystem functioning, as well as the role of focal species in these processes, is currently a dominant theme in ecology. In the Arctic, temperature has increased at a rate two to three times faster than at southerly latitudes (Post et al., …show more content…

The decrease in the extent of sea ice is on the order of 5% per decade in the Arctic (Liu et al., 2004; Serreze et al., 2007). One of the species directly affected by global warming is the polar bear (Ursus maritimus) whose life history is closely tied to sea ice (Lunn and Stirling, 1985).

Evidence is accumulating that polar bears are suffering from a warming climate and associated loss of sea ice habitat .It is expected that continued sea ice reductions will severely affect polar bear populations (Durner et al., 2009), which will force them into terrestrial ecosystems during the summer months in search of food (Stempniewicz,1993; al., Hanssen et al., 2013 )

In the last 30 years, bears have increased the amount of time they are on land by almost 30 days - staying another day longer each year .That means the bears are coming ashore to face food shortages

before they have stored enough fat to last through the season."The bears just run out of energy," The longer summer fasting

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Humans consider polar bears as one of the cutest animals on the planet. Not only are they adorable, but they are also going extinct because of the warming temperatures in the Arctic. But what the public does not know is that the warmer weather is not the only thing killing off these animals; it is truly cannibalism. Rod Sterling's story, "Monsters Are Due on Maple street," reveals this surprising truth in a similar way. The story takes place in an ordinary neighborhood that is supposedly being attacked by aliens.

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In the article “With Climate Change, Grizzly Bears May Hibernate Less”, the author, Sarah Zielinski, explains the potential effects of climate change on grizzly bears. Zielinski states that climate change could potential cause bears to hibernate less. She also says that this worries scientists because hibernation is a very important time for grizzly bears, it allows them to survive on small amounts of food, because they reduce the amount of energy they use by around 85 percent. In addition, this is the time when females give birth to their offspring. This combined with the hunting of these bears could have a huge effect on the population of them.

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Black bears have a medium to heavy frame with large ears and powerful limbs. The black bear has a coat that can differentiate from brown, cinnamon, blond, grey-blue, and of course, black. They can adapt to their environment easily but are normally found in forested areas. It has a diet that consists of fruits, buds, berries, nut, insects, and food lest by humans. They are incredible climbers that can use their claws to extract food from the trees.

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Polar bears are considered one of the cutest animals in the world and are adored by thousands of people. Not only are they adorable, but they are also going extinct because of the warming temperatures in the Arctic. But what mankind does not know is that warmer climate isn’t the only thing killing off these animals; it’s truly cannibalism. This surprising truth is revealed in a similar way in Rod Sterling's short story, “Monsters Are Due On Maple Street.” The story takes place in an ordinary neighborhood that is supposedly being attacked by aliens.

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Also bears are mammals since they give birth to live animals. Plus there exist to be various types of bears such as black bears, grizzly, panda, polar, and sun bear. Also a bear lives in caves, and trees. Conclusion Bears are a significant fragment of the earth since they keep the deer overpopulation from happening. Also, they eat most of the beetles that eat the

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The grizzly bears adapt to their environment by hunting down their own food. They hunt down carcasses of caribou, moose calves, walruses, ground squirrels, and salmon as well

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The arctic tundra biome is a biome located in the arctic circle, in such places as north Canada, Russia, Alaska, Iceland, Finland, and most of Greenland. Covering approximately 20% of the Earth 's land surface, the arctic tundra biome is the coldest biome on Earth, with winter temperatures averaging at -34°C (-30°F), and summer temperatures of around 3-12°C (37-54°F). The moderate summer temperature allows this icy biome to sustain life. Yearly precipitation is a low 15-25 centimetres (6-10 inches). The ground in a tundra biome has very low nutrients,which accounts for the low amount of plant life.

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As a consequence, these animals are now forced to spend more time on shore scavenging for food, often going without while awaiting new ice to form in the fall. There is also growing concern for polar bear cubs that are thought to be incapable of swimming the increasingly greater distances in open water between shrinking ice floes. As evidence, they offer the growing number of very young polar bear carcasses that they notice being washed up on shore. Many mother bears also appear to be dangerously thin and less able to fend for themselves and their young. This situation is quite noticeable among polar bears along the western shore of Hudson Bay, especially around the town of Churchill Manitoba, a location where polar bears traditionally spend the late months of fall foraging on shore awaiting the freeze-up, a freeze-up that now comes later each year.

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Apart from the sea ice, the polar bears have very few alternatives left when the ice melts and when their access to the ringed seal prey disappears with their habitat. The charismatic arctic hunters cannot adjust and sustain themselves on another food source. If the devastating process of climate change continues, there wouldn’t be a thin sheet of ice left for these extraordinary animals to survive

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