Here are the recent bear statistics for Churchill over the last week/month published by Manitoba Conservation. It’s pretty clear that polar bear numbers in summer months have increased over the last decade as sea ice melts faster in the spring. When I guided Churchill Arctic summer trips 10 years ago, we rarely saw polar bears in the region before August. Polar bears are now arriving in July. Good for tourism but challenging for residents and conservation officers.
Summer polar bear on the tundra. Natural Habitat Adventures photo.
Polar bear roaming the tundra. Natural Habitat Adventures photo.
The Arctic summer of 2013 was a cool one. So much so that the trend of decreasing sea ice has regained it’s recent losses by at least one third over the last few years. Because of the cool summer that year, more multi – year ice was left at the end of the summer.
Despite the encouraging news, scientists cautiously warn the news is an anomaly and climate change related to warming is still very real.
“It would suggest that sea is more resilient perhaps if you get one year of cooler temperature. We’ve almost wound the clock back a few years on this gradual decline that’s been happening over decades,” lead author Rachel Tilling told BBC News. “The long-term trend of the ice volume is downwards and the long-term trend of the temperatures in the Arctic is upwards and this finding doesn’t give us any reason to disbelieve that. As far as we can tell, it’s just one anomalous year.”
President Obama will visit Anchorage, Alaska on August 31 to address the state departments GLACIER conference. Foreign ministers from Arctic nations as well as non – Arctic states will attend as well as scientists, policy makers and stakeholders from the Arctic and Alaska will also attend.
The conference goal is to increase global awareness of how Arctic climate change is a harbinger for warming affects in the rest of the world.
Our northern ecosystems are changing and this time sea ice is not the suspect. International scientists headed up by the University of Edinburgh have results from a comprehensive study on vegetation comprising the Arctic tundra. Research was conducted on 37 sites in nine countries, monitoring shrub growth in the Arctic spanning 60 years. Curiously plant growth is not a good thing.
Arctic shrubs moving further north. Boundless.com photo.
Arctic shrubs, in most cases willows, are growing and moving north at fairly rapid rates. These tundra shrubs act as a barometer of the Arctic and their increased presence is “strong evidence” that climate change is happening. Focus on diminishing sea ice has been the headline for years and this is just auxiliary evidence that global warming is real.
The growth and spreading of these shrubs in itself is not the problem. What occurs and perpetuates increases in temperatures is the way these thicker stands of plant life fuel warming. Taller, thicker growth of shrubs prevents snow from reflecting sun back away from our planet, therefore warming the Earth’s surface. This process leads to soil temperature increase and thawing of permafrost.
Increased shrub stands change nutrient cycling and carbon levels in the soil and thus affect the decomposition rate and then the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere from thawing permafrost. Dr. Isla Myers-Smith was the study co-ordinator for this project and she cautioned on the increased shrub growth; “Arctic shrub growth in the tundra is one of the most significant examples on Earth of the effect that climate change is having on ecosystems.” ( Reported by Press Association July 6, 2015)
The research is documented comprehensively in Nature Climate Change and funded by the International Arctic Science Committee.
David Letterman went out on a serious note by interviewing James Balog, producer of the acclaimed documentary “Chasing Ice”. It appears a testament to the incredible urgency of reversing the affects of carbon emissions on the Earth’s atmosphere. Balog and his staff have spent years filming receding glaciers through time – lapse photography. The recession of ice is fairly alarming! Click on the video to view on Vimeo. Check out the “Chasing Ice” trailer below the Letterman video!
Seals, particularly ringed and bearded seals, don’t care too much about the polar bear’s plight of reduced sea ice. True, seals need the ice – pack and ice – floes to build their dens to birth and raise their young. However, they would not mind one bit if there were no polar bears around to stalk them in their blowholes and crash through their dens on the ice in order to devour their young and occasionally adults as well. No, as far as seals think, polar bears could disappear all-together and they wouldn’t have to keep one eye open constantly while they are dozing on the ice in between dives below the surface.
What seals don’t know is they also need to worry about global warming and reduced sea ice in the Hudson Bay and other far northern Arctic regions. Without the ice surface there would be nowhere to build their dens and rear their young near accessible food sources in the ocean. Well, who knows, maybe they do know this and we’re not giving them enough credit. Anyway, the end result is, without sea ice, polar bears cannot hunt their staple prey of seals and seals cannot rear their young pups that are eaten by polar bears. The complex web of life.
Polar bear with a seal kill. Rinie Van Meurs photo.
Polar bears also take adult seals by getting the scent from a distant blowhole utilized by seals to surface periodically. Seals form these access holes in the fall when the ice is softer and less thick. They maintain them throughout the colder months by constantly surfacing and descending in order to prevent ice layers from forming in the hole. Polar bears get very low as they approach the hole and sometimes even dive in to snatch the seal with their sharp, agile claws. When a bear emerges with the kill, they will often share with other polar bears that approach very timidly while nudging the hunter with their noses asking in a way to partake in the meal.
Polar bears gather to feed on a beached whale carcass. Daniel Cox/Natural Exposures photo.
Polar bears are opportunists. In essence they have the ability to find alternative food sources when needed if seals are unavailable. In recent years polar bears have been observed seemingly more active on land or in shallow coastal water hunting seals and beluga or other whales. Scientists wonder if this is a reaction to the shorter sea – ice season. Are polar bears adapting to changing climate conditions?
Only time will tell with regards to the polar bear’s ability to adapt to changing climate and ice conditions resulting from global warming. Seals will have to adapt as well in order to survive and propagate their species. Also, just maybe humans, the wildcard in the equation, can reduce carbon emissions to reverse the trends we are seeing now in the Arctic!
Animals all over the Earth on land and within its oceans have evolved with some type of amazing camouflage or survival disguise in order to further exist in the wild. Many of these adaptations are intricate patterns or color shades that enable the living being to blend in with barely a trace of detection by predators.
Owl blending perfectly in with a tree. Eoiarucasadvancedone.blogspot photo.
Camouflage in animals tends to adhere to three factors regarding environment. Blending in and becoming one with the environment is most common in nature. Behavior and physiology of the animal, relating to the behavior of the predator. And lastly, the environment in which the animal lives and hunts its food.
Since animal camouflage is genetically determined, each new generation adapts to it environmental features a little better. most animals mimic the habitat’s coloration and features and take on some representation in their appearance for disguise. Some species are able to change those features as needed through biological means. Chameleons obviously come to mind in this regard. Birds and some furred animals also adjust by shedding or molting and growing different colored coats seasonally.
Common baron caterpillar blending into a leaf. Wohinauswandern photo.
Animals also use camouflage in groups or herds. Zebras blend their individual stripes together and appear as a larger mass to dissuade would be predators like lions. Tropical fish utilize this tactic as well by forming huge schools as protection. See kids… another reason to stay in school.
Polar bear using white to blend in. Natural Habitat Adventures photo.
Polar bears and Arctic animals use white as their camouflage. Polar bears are obviously a larger animal that has few predators besides humans. Therefore, blending in for them is a matter of disguising for predatory reasons. In essence, sneaking up on seals on white ice is the advantage gained. Other Arctic animals such as Arctic fox, Arctic hares, ptarmigan and beluga whales all need that white on white for protection from predators in the wild.
Willow ptarmigan becoming one with the snowy tundra. Art Wolfe photo.
