[caption id="attachment_4420" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Polar bear"]
[/caption]Carol Forsloff - Polar bears had been declining in numbers, according to scientists. But they now find that the decline that was said to be steady and steep, isn't what was maintained years ago.
Scientists at the University of Washington have examined these polar bears and find many of them are surviving. That is especially true if humans reduce greenhouse gases, they say. The bottom line is that people too are threatened with harm by greenhouse gases, with polar bears the tip of the proverbial iceberg. The fact more are surviving is some good news, in this world where the environment is consistently challenged.
“What we projected in 2007 was based solely on the business-as-usual greenhouse gas scenario,” said Steven Amstrup, who's one of the major researchers on this issue with the U.S. Geological Survey. He has also been particularly active in Polar Bears International. He tells us that previous research didn't consider greenhouse gas mitigation.
The new research, published in the Dec. 16 issue of Nature, indicates there is no “tipping point” that would result with the sea ice demise following warming and that the message is more hopeful than anticipated.
“Our research offers a very promising, hopeful message, but it’s also an incentive for mitigating greenhouse emissions,” Bitz said.
More polar bears around is a good sign, scientists say, for the rest of us.
