According to a new study, it is possible that polar bears may go extinct by the end of the century. As the sea ice continues to melt as a result of temperature increases, polar bears are losing their hunting grounds.
As a result, they are fasting for much longer than normal.
Normally, healthy polar bears will use the sea ice to hunt seals. However, when they cannot hunt, they begin fasting. Since there is less sea ice, the fasting seasons are becoming longer, which is unhealthy for them.
Even if emissions are reduced, ice has been lost and it will not come back. The 25,000 polar bears that live in the arctic are at risk.
The Dangers of Polar Bear Fasting
Fasting bears conserve energy by reducing their movement and traveling less, and not doing strenuous activities. One such activity is mating. They simply will not have the energy to do it, and that will cause a population decline.
Not to mention the polar bears will still need the energy to hunt when it is finally time to do so. And as ice becomes more scarce, they will have to travel further to find food. This is a problem for the energy-starved bears.
The end result is they and their cubs are more likely to starve.
We Can Still Mitigate the Damage
While some of the challenges these bears will face will become a permanent part of their life, the effects can be mitigated and time is running out.
The study was very clear, polar bears will be more likely to survive is global warming is kept to a minimum. That means we need to get emissions under control.
And as the world begins to formulate recovery plans after COVID-19, green projects and practices are very likely to emerge, which means there is still hope.
