Scientists in recent years have warned that global warming could decimate polar bear populations (January 2005 story). The bears depend on sea ice on which to hunt for seals.

We reported in early April on the latest suggestions that Arctic sea ice might be melting faster than computer models have been predicting. Already in summer, cracks in the ice run uncharacteristically all the way to the North Pole.

The latest warning comes in a new Reuters story which, while not offering much new information, involves views of people in the far North who are close to the situation: “There will be big reductions in numbers if the ice melts,” said Jon Aars, a polar bear expert at the Norwegian Polar Institute.�

Meanwhile, most of the dire predictions are just that so far: predictions. As of 2005, one population of polar bears in Manitoba had declined 17 percent in a decade, from 1,200 to fewer than 1,000. Other populations are said to be robust and even rising. Fact is, there is no good firm count.
There are thought to be somewhere between 20,000 and 25,000 of the bears total across the Arctic.
The fears for the polar bears’ demise are fueled by alarming stories that they may already be turning to cannibalism due to warming-induced hunger. The bears also combat industrial pollutants, too, which apparently has caused the genitals of some to shrink.