By Lilah Wimbish, Courier Staff Writer
The Arctic continues to warm faster than any other place on the planet. As the sea ice rapidly declines there is only one way to save the polar bears from complete extinction. The US Fish and Wildlife services announced on Monday that the only way to save the polar bears is to put an end to climate change. The current estimate of polar bears worldwide is 26,000. Rising temperatures and declining sea levels are the biggest threat to the polar bear populations, which the animals highly depends on.Polar bears were listed as a threatened species in 2008 under the Endangered Species act.
The Fish and Wildlife Service announced their plan of recovery will include steps that mediate the polar bear’s interaction with humans,track and manage oil spills that affect their habitat and monitor their numbers. But the report stated that plan will ultimately rely on the world’s ability to address climate change and if any action will be taken. In 2015 at the climate meeting in Paris, towards countries agreed to take towards limiting rising global temperatures to no more than two degrees celsius. Micheal Runge, a research ecologist with the US Geological Survey said, “Without actions to arrest the progress of this change, three-quarters of polar bear habitat will vanish in about 60 years, with the possibility that the species itself will be lost.” But many are concerned about newly elected President Donald Trump’s skeptic of climate science. Trump has expressed his thoughts about climate change and how intends to “cancel” the Paris deal.Without an aggressive call to climate change, the plan of saving the polar bears is pointless. This will reduce a large number in polar population, and include the extinction of bears in Alaska is simply unbearable.Shaye Wolf, a climate science director for the Center for Biological Diversity claims,“This recovery plan is too risky for the polar bear. Recovery plans work, but only if they truly address the threats to the species. Sadly, that simply isn’t the case with this polar bear plan.”