Polar bears were the biggest and most feared predator in the North Atlantic, until recently. This paper will explain what is happening to the polar bears due to the melting ice caps, what the result of this is and how that is going to change the entire region. It will focus on primarily three factors; climate change and CO2 production, the invasion of killer whales (Orcinus Orca), and how the invasion into the north will effect human civilizations.
Introduction
The world’s climate is changing rapidly. Humans are pumping more carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere than any time in history. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, a gas that holds radiation, and this extra CO2 in the atmosphere means that our atmosphere is absorbing even more of
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As the polar ice caps melt further toward the poles every summer, it makes the polar bears job of hunting and staying alive harder and then eventually, impossible. This creates an empty niche in the northern ecosystem. (Williams et. al. 2011) While making it difficult for the polar bears to hunt, shrinking ice caps make it easier for orcas to move further north and reach new food sources such as narwhal and seals. The implications of this new shift of the major predator in the region could be catastrophic. (Williams et. al. 2011) Food scarcity has always been a challenge for polar bears but now the challenge is even greater due to increased competition. (Williams et. al. 2011) Animals lower on the food chain will see a drastic decline in population due to the introduction of a new …show more content…
As the ice caps melt the polar bear’s hunting area becomes increasingly smaller. (Higdon et. al. 2009) This means that the killer whale’s hunting area get larger and extends up into regions never accessible before. Killer whales are starting to hunt animals that polar bears and humans hunt making it more difficult for native people in the North Atlantic to find food. (Higdon et. al. 2009) When an economy is reliant on a particular income and it is taken away, the economy starts to collapse and that is what we see happening in the northern most towns and cities. This one big change of the top predator, changes the entire region and how the organisms in that region