Global Warming Is Driving Polar Bears Toward Extinction, Researchers Say - The New York Times

Global Warming Is Driving Polar Bears Toward Extinction, Researchers Say - The New York Times

Polar bears risk extinction within 80 years

Nearly all polar-bear populations will be wiped out by 2100 unless we reverse the trend of sea-ice loss. “There is very little chance that polar bears would persist anywhere in the world, except perhaps in the very high Arctic in one small subpopulation” if we continue fuelling climate change with business-as-usual levels of emissions, says climate scientist Peter Molnar. Molnar and his colleagues analysed how long polar bears can survive and raise cubs during the ever-longer periods when parts of the Arctic are free of ice. Projections show that, if present rates of warming continue, the bears will starve between winters.

The New York Times | 5 min readReference: Nature Climate Change paper