Polar bears versus extinction: humanity’s effort to save a species
The Arctic is a vast ice-covered sea surrounded by frozen treeless tundra teeming with wildlife, including ice-dwelling organisms, fish and marine mammals, birds, land animals, and human societies. And, for thousands of years before the presence of humans, the polar bear reigned as the top predator in the frozen Arctic food chain.
Threats from hunting and melting sea ice
Today, an effort is underway to place the polar bear on the endangered species list. In July 2006, the United States House voted and approved a treaty between the United States and Russia to protect polar bears from overhunting by native populations and created a commission to study the loss of Arctic sea ice. . Due to the melting of sea ice, polar bears sometimes drown by swimming the greatest distance between ice islands while searching for food.
This treaty was prompted by the decline in the number of polar bears. Switzerland’s World Conservation Union (WCU) estimates that the number of Arctic polar bears has decreased from 25,000 to 20,000. An estimated 15,000 polar bears live in Greenland and Norway, while 5,000 live in Alaska, Russia, and Canada. Documentation of a thawed Arctic came in 2004 in the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA). The ACIA was an unprecedented four-year study by an international team of 300 scientists.
Support for polar bears listed as endangered made headlines when three groups took legal action in 2005. The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the Center for Biological Diversity and Greenpeace, filed a lawsuit in the United States. US courts to request the placement of polar bears on the Endangered Species List.
Eat high on the food chain
Bioassays of wildlife and people in the Arctic have verified the presence of high levels of toxins. Today, the indigenous peoples and predatory animals of the Arctic are considered some of the most chemically polluted life forms on our planet.
Due to the location, polar bears and indigenous peoples eat animals high up on the food chain. In doing so, they ingest chemicals that are concentrated in the fat of animals such as seals, whales, walruses, and other animals.
Beluga whales, for example, serve as a food source for polar bears and the indigenous peoples of the Arctic. While the natives of the Arctic have their long-established methods and rituals for hunting whales, polar bears have developed their own unique methods for catching beluga whales.
Arctic beluga whales have an abundance of food. However, when the Arctic freezes over, whales need to surface every ten to twenty minutes to breathe. Over millions of years, pods of whales have developed ways to keep air holes open in the ice. By swimming in a continuous vertical circle towards the surface, whales prevent ice from forming at their breathing hole. When the hole is large, many whales can surface for air at the same time. However, as thicker ice and extreme freezing temperatures reduce the size of the hole, the whales organize to take turns. Eventually, when the long arctic winter arrives and the whales become stressed and tired, an opportunity presents itself for the polar bear.
Polar bears wait along the edge of the vent; When a whale comes to the surface, the bears jump out and cut the whale with their long, sharp claws. Eventually, the weakest and most injured whales will succumb and die in the air hole, giving the polar bears a substantial feast.
Although beluga whale blubber is a high-energy source, it also contains around 80 parts per million (ppm) of the chemical PCB. In contrast, most people have less than 1 ppm. In 1987, high levels of PCBs were found in the milk of nursing Inuit mothers. This discovery caused international concern and increased awareness about the migration of toxic chemicals by ocean currents, marine life, and atmospheric deposition.
The international threat of chemicals
Since the Arctic is a region of international concern and overlapping ecosystems, a group known as the Arctic Council was formed. The Arctic Council is made up of members from Iceland; Canada; Denmark; Russia; Sweden; United States and Norway.
Studies published in 2004 by the Arctic Council report that “inherited contaminants” such as PCBs and DDT are the dominant chemicals found in Arctic wildlife. DDT and PCBs are considered some of the most toxic pollutants in the world. Other persistent organic pollutants (POPs) found in Arctic wildlife and indigenous peoples include dioxins, PBDEs (flame retardants), and PFOS (stain repellent chemicals).
Flame retardants are found in consumer products like fabrics, computers, and certain building materials, while stain repellants are found in consumer products like fabrics for clothing, furniture, and car seats.
A paragraph in a study says:
“Environmental pollutants, such as persistent organic pollutants (POPs), pose an additional area of greater concern for polar bears. Recent documentation of baseline pollutant levels in the circumpolar environment and in key species has dramatically expanded knowledge of regional presence and levels of these pollutants in the last 10 years. Polar bears, as apical predators, tend to amplify the bioaccumulation of organochlorine compounds and are a perfect candidate for trend assessment studies. We now know that polar bears that inhabit certain areas of the Arctic exhibit elevated levels of organochlorines, particularly PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), while populations inhabiting other areas have lower levels. Laboratory experiments involving elevated levels of organochlorines have been associated with a variety of effects including neurological changes, repr productive and immunological. Studies continue to evaluate the effect of persistent organic pollutants on the essential life functions of polar bears and other marine animals with an emphasis on evaluating the immune and hormonal systems. “
International efforts and actions1. In May 2004, 151 countries signed the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. This international treaty plans to eliminate the use of 12 of the world’s most dangerous persistent organic chemicals as soon as possible.
two. On an ongoing basis, the Arctic Council is assessing the socio-economic, human health and environmental impacts of polluting chemicals, including oil and gas development and the expected increase in shipping as a result of the melting of the Arctic Sea.
3. The Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans is assessing the presence and hazards of toxic chemicals in wildlife and human populations in the Arctic.
Four. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering the inclusion of polar bears on the endangered species list.
5. On July 11, 2006, the United Nations (UNEP) launched a two-year scientific expedition to investigate Arctic climate change.