Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Victory! Polar Bear Protected!
United States — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has officially listed the polar bear as a 'threatened' species, due to the meltdown of its sea-ice habitat caused by global warming.
This is a huge victory for polar bears, even if it did take a Greenpeace lawsuit to accomplish it. This action comes in response to a lawsuit filed last December under the federal Endangered Species Act by Greenpeace, Center for Biological Diversity, and NRDC.
What this means for the polar bear
Listing under the United States Endangered Species Act -- America’s safety net for plants and animals on the brink of extinction -- will provide broad protection to polar bears, including a requirement that United States federal agencies ensure that any action carried out, authorized, or funded by the United States government will not “jeopardize the continued existence” of polar bears, or adversely modify their critical habitat.
Thin Ice
Polar bears live only in the Arctic and are totally dependent on the sea ice. A growing body of evidence shows that the Arctic ice is vanishing much faster than previously expected. The thick multiyear ice has been shrinking eight to 10 percent per decade, with some climate models predicting that the Arctic could be ice-free in summer as early as 2050.
In some polar regions, the sea ice season has shortened as much as three weeks, and scientists have discovered that the polar ice caps are melting at an alarming rate - more than a million square miles - losing an area the size of Colorado in just the last year.
Thanks to all of you who took action to protect the polar bear. It couldn't have happened without you!
— Greenpeace USA
