The Polar Bear is the largest of all bears. Their weight ranges from 720-1,700 pounds for males and 500-600 pounds for females. They have jagged teeth and massive claws to tear through the flesh of a seal. Another characteristic would be their rough paw-pads that help them from slipping on the ice. Their white, thick fur which is actually, on the outer layer, hollow and reflects light giving the fur a white color, helps the bear remain camouflaged in icy and snowy habitat. It also helps them to blend in and keep warm (blubber also helps with that). Pregnant Polar Bears dig out a den and give birth to generally two cubs. She will nurse and teach the cubs how to hunt for two and a half years. During this time, the male will be the one to scavange food for the mother and her cubs. There are about 20,000 Polar Bears in the wild, today. Unfortunately, due to temperatures is the North Pole increasing, they are gradually becoming and endangered species.
The Polar Bear's habitat, the North Pole, is a barren region full of snow and ice. Temperatures range from 54 degrees F in the summer and negative 15 degrees F in the winter. Some of the animals that live in this habitat include Polar Bears, Artic Seals, and Caribou. There are frequent blizzards, making the landscape white. This beauiful land, full of nature and animals, might be gone before we know it.
About 20,000 polar bears depend on the arctic weather for their survival. Scientists around the world are saying that the North Pole is melting fast. Research shows that there is already 65 percent gone, and even in just one year! Most say that the cause for the melting is global warming. This change won't only effect the land, but also the animals that inhabit it, like the Polar Bear. The Polar Bears won't be able to easily hunt seals, because they are clinging to the last, small icebergs. Their homes will melt and they will be stuck in water, making it possible for them to drown from exhaustion. This change will make Polar Bears threaten to extinction.
About 20,000 polar bears depend on the arctic weather for their survival. Scientists around the world are saying that the North Pole is melting fast. Research shows that there is already 65 percent gone, and even in just one year! Most say that the cause for the melting is global warming. This change won't only effect the land, but also the animals that inhabit it, like the Polar Bear. The Polar Bears won't be able to easily hunt seals, because they are clinging to the last, small icebergs. Their homes will melt and they will be stuck in water, making it possible for them to drown from exhaustion. This change will make Polar Bears threaten to extinction.
This picture above shows the difference between the North Pole from 1980 to 2012. Over the years, the ice caps are gradually decreasing. In the long run, this can be a major problem not only for the polar bears, but for the other animals that inhabit this area. Polar bears were actually the first animals to be put on the endangered list because of global warming. They can only survive in areas where the water gets cold enough for it to freeze. Scientists and environmentalists have found that every year in the summer, sea ice is getting smaller in size and is melting for longer periods of time.The rising temperatures in the water and seas around the North Pole is what is causing the ice caps and seas to melt so quickly. Along with ice caps melting, that means that their dens and hunting grounds are going away as well. Unless we start acting, before we know it there might be such a thing as the North Pole.
We believe that in order for Polar Bears to survive, they will float down to Iceland's forest region, on the last glaciers that hadn't melted. Iceland is around where the Arctic Circle so it is cold enough for the polar bears to live, but warm enough for the polar bears to have to adapt to the new climate. In doing so, polar bears may develop webbed feet in order to migrate and swim to their new habitat. When they arrive, they won't be able to survive in the different climate. Therefore, they will evolve into a new bear, and adapt to their new surroundings in Iceland.
One way they will change will be their fur color. Being completely white helped them camouflage to stalk prey in the North Pole, however they'll now need to turn a reddish-brown color to blend into the forests of Iceland. Another thing that would change would be their diet. Their typical meal, Artic Seals, won't come down to Iceland. They will have to start eating deer, instead, but keep their big, sharp teeth for hunting. In the end, they will lose their blubber and thick fur. They will do this to make sure they don't overheat in the warmer climates. Iceland's average temperatures are 50-60 degrees F in the summer and 32 degrees F in the Winter. There are less frequent blizzards, reducing the chances of snowfall. Some time over the next 200,000 years a new species of bear will form from the Polar Bear. Seeing the Polar Bears evolution would be a remarkable experience!
One way they will change will be their fur color. Being completely white helped them camouflage to stalk prey in the North Pole, however they'll now need to turn a reddish-brown color to blend into the forests of Iceland. Another thing that would change would be their diet. Their typical meal, Artic Seals, won't come down to Iceland. They will have to start eating deer, instead, but keep their big, sharp teeth for hunting. In the end, they will lose their blubber and thick fur. They will do this to make sure they don't overheat in the warmer climates. Iceland's average temperatures are 50-60 degrees F in the summer and 32 degrees F in the Winter. There are less frequent blizzards, reducing the chances of snowfall. Some time over the next 200,000 years a new species of bear will form from the Polar Bear. Seeing the Polar Bears evolution would be a remarkable experience!
Work Cited:
http://kids.nationalgeographic/kids/animals/creaturefeature/polar-bear
www.worldtravelguiide.net/iceland/weather-climate-geography
www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/466060/polar-bear
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/06/080620-north-pole_2.html
http://www.bearplanet.org/polarbear.shtml
http://en.vedur.is/
http://www.weather.com/weather/today/North+Pole+AK+USAK0173
http://www.greenhq.net/polar-bears-and-global-warming/
http://www.nwf.org/Wildlife/Wildlife-Library/Mammals/Polar-Bear.aspx
http://worldwildlife.org/species/polar-bear
First picture: http://thetodaystuff.blogspot.com/2011/01/polar-bears-wallpapers.html
Second picture: http://www.kalkion.com/news/1611/nasa-finds-thickest-parts-arctic-ice-cap-melting-faster
Third picture: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/123286108519834067/
http://kids.nationalgeographic/kids/animals/creaturefeature/polar-bear
www.worldtravelguiide.net/iceland/weather-climate-geography
www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/466060/polar-bear
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/06/080620-north-pole_2.html
http://www.bearplanet.org/polarbear.shtml
http://en.vedur.is/
http://www.weather.com/weather/today/North+Pole+AK+USAK0173
http://www.greenhq.net/polar-bears-and-global-warming/
http://www.nwf.org/Wildlife/Wildlife-Library/Mammals/Polar-Bear.aspx
http://worldwildlife.org/species/polar-bear
First picture: http://thetodaystuff.blogspot.com/2011/01/polar-bears-wallpapers.html
Second picture: http://www.kalkion.com/news/1611/nasa-finds-thickest-parts-arctic-ice-cap-melting-faster
Third picture: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/123286108519834067/