Harmful Effects of Global Warming on Polar Bears

This essay discusses the harmful effects of global warming on polar bears, focusing on the loss of their habitat and food sources due to melting ice caps. Annotated bibliography of relevant articles is provided.

Running head: POLAR BEARS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
POLAR BEARS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1POLAR BEARS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Introduction
The image of polar bears are the generic symbols which conjures itself up in the minds when the
mention of the arctic regions is made. In the recent times the global warming has caused the
animals to be pushed towards the verge of extinction due to the loss of its habitat and its source
of food. The loss of the polar bears is a great loss to the nature as each of the species are meant to
play a vital role in the maintenance of the balance in the nature and the loss of a species can have
adverse consequences on the food chain and the resultant effect shall be experienced by the
entire humanity, as the human beings are at the mercy of the nature and any attempt to disrupt
the balance of nature shall be harmful for the human beings in the long run.
Statement of Purpose
In this particular essay the discussion shall be focusing upon the harmful effects of the polar ice
caps melting away as a result of the global warming and its effect on the polar bears residing in
the polar region. This is the thesis statement of the essay and the discussion about the harmful
effects of global warming on the existence of the polar bears. The discussion shall be put in form
of annotated bibliography and explaining briefly about the ideas the authors had wished to
disseminate through their works.
Discussion
In the article ‘Invariant polar bear habitat selection during a period of sea ice loss’ by
Wilson, Ryan R., et al. it is opined that the climate change and the altercation of the environment
has enabled most of the species of the world to adapt itself to the changes. However the polar

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bears have not been able to adapt to the drastic global warming and the melting of the polar ice
caps which has created sudden changes in the environment they live in. The inability of the polar
bears to adapt to the changes in their surroundings is owing to the fact that there has been a
serious loss of the source of their food which are the seals. The immediate consequence of it has
been in form of the reduction of the population of the polar bears (Ryan et al).
In the article ‘Arctic marine mammal population status, sea ice habitat loss, and
conservation recommendations for the 21st century’ by Laidre, Kristin L., et al, the main
argument made is that the loss of the polar ice caps have led to the polar bears change their
habitat and move more towards he land leaving the sea shores. The polar bears are not suited to
the habitat where they are being forced to move and that is causing their population to get
decreased. Over the past decades there has been serious deploration of the habitat of the polar
bears and the polar bears are thus being forced to invade the human settlements in search of food
(Laidre et al).
In the article ‘Anthropogenic flank attack on polar bears: interacting consequences of climate
warming and pollutant exposure’ by Bjørn et al, the main argument made is that the climate
change has not just adversely affected the population of the polar bears in terms of it getting
reduced in number and being pushed to the extent of endangerment. Rather it has also affected
the natural capacities of the polar bears in terms of reducing their immunity power, their fertility
and most importantly their hunting capacities which has caused them to find it difficult to search
for their food which are the seals. It is difficult for the polar bears to find their source of
nourishment apart from the seals and the loss of their habitat it has become difficult for them to
locate their source of food which is causing the species to be moved to the extent of
endangerment (Jenssen et al).

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In the article ‘Habitat degradation affects the summer activity of polar bears’ by Ware et al the
focus of the discussion is on the jeopardizing effect of melting of the ice caps on the summer
time activities of the polar bears. The summer activity of the polar bears generally is that of
hunting in the shallow waters, which comprises of 50 to 75% of the total activities of the species
in the season. However due to the loss of the habitat the summer time activities of the polar bears
are being affected and they are being forced to spend much of their time on the land as their
marginal habitats are being affected. As per the researchers the altercation of the summer
activities of the polar has been a direct effect of the change of the habitat and is also a method of
balancing the prey availability with the source of their energy (Ware et al).
Analysis
The world has now reconciled itself to the glaring fact that the issue of global warming is
indeed an issue to be taken seriously given the situation that the melting of the polar ice caps are
causing havoc all over the world. The sea levels are rising and the inhabited areas are getting
inundated as a result of it in the coastal regions of the world. Not just the human beings are being
affected by it, the issue of global warming is also causing a loss of habitat for the exotic species
and polar bears are one of them (Ryan et al). In fact the arctic animals are the ones who directly
suffer from the harmful consequences of the polar ice caps melting. The polar bears lose their
natural habitat and as a result of it they are becoming endangered. A loss of a particular species
might not seem like a big loss to humanity at an initial level, but in the long run it disrupts the
food chain and that can have a cascading effect on other species as well which shall finally have
its effect on human life (Ryan et al). The melting of the snow caps is leading to a loss of the
glaciers floating on to the oceans which are supposed to be the hunting grounds for the polar

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bears. The polar bears are incapable of swimming and they are no match to their prey, the seals
with regard to swimming. The only way in which the polar bears can hunt the seals is by means
of catching them by their necks when they peep out of the glaciers. Hence the loss of the glaciers
is directly proportionate to the loss of hunting grounds for the polar bears and they are left to
starve and eventually die out as a result of it (Laidre et al). This is indeed a serious concern and
must be dealt with by means of controlling the global warming for the sake of restoring the
natural habitat of the polar bears and ensuring that their population remains intact. The loss of a
particular species has its direct effect on the ecosystem and the biosphere whose effect is felt by
the human beings finally as the human beings are as much dependent on the nature for nurture as
much as the animals are (Jenssen et al). Hence for the sake of maintaining the stability in the
nature and the natural balance of harmony among the human beings and the various species, it is
necessary that global warming be controlled and the natural habitat of the polar bears be restored.
Thus from the above discussion it becomes clear that the issue of global warming is indeed a
serious one and the global warming has to be controlled in order to ensure that the population of
the polar bears is safeguarded against extinction. That is the sense which can be derived from the
discussion of the articles that has been provided above.
Conclusion
Thus in the concluding section it can be said that the human activities on other parts of the world
are causing quite a lot of problems for the polar bears and their life is being put under danger
which is not something quite desirable for the sake of human kind. Thus the issue of controlling
the global warming must be taken seriously.

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Annotated Bibliography
Jenssen, Bjørn M., et al. "Anthropogenic flank attack on polar bears: interacting consequences of
climate warming and pollutant exposure." Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 3 (2015):
16.
This particular article has been chosen as it discusses about the jeopardizing effect of the global
warming and climate change on the life and population of the polar bears. The climate
change issue has been dealt with in this essay by the authors.
Laidre, Kristin L., et al. "Arctic marine mammal population status, sea ice habitat loss, and
conservation recommendations for the 21st century." Conservation Biology 29.3 (2015):
724-737.
In the article ‘Arctic marine mammal population status, sea ice habitat loss, and conservation
recommendations for the 21st century’ by Laidre, Kristin L., et al, the main argument
made is that the loss of the polar ice caps have led to the polar bears change their habitat
and move more towards he land leaving the sea shores, which is why this article has been
chosen. The polar bears are not suited to the habitat where they are being forced to move
and that is causing their population to get decreased.
Ware, Jasmine V., et al. "Habitat degradation affects the summer activity of polar bears."
Oecologia 184.1 (2017): 87-99.
In the article ‘Habitat degradation affects the summer activity of polar bears’ by Ware et al the
focus of the discussion is on the jeopardizing effect of melting of the ice caps on the
summer time activities of the polar bears, which is why this article has been chosen. The

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summer activity of the polar bears generally is that of hunting in the shallow waters,
which comprises of 50 to 75% of the total activities of the species in the season
Wilson, Ryan R., et al. "Invariant polar bear habitat selection during a period of sea ice loss."
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 283.1836 (2016): 20160380.
In the article ‘Invariant polar bear habitat selection during a period of sea ice loss’ by Wilson,
Ryan R., et al. it is opined that the climate change and the altercation of the environment
has enabled most of the species of the world to adapt itself to the changes, which is why
this article has been chosen.