In a setback to the animal we described as the “fuzzy face of climate change,” a federal court has determined that setting aside 187,157 square miles of Arctic coastline in Alaska as “critical” polar bear habitat under the Endangered Species Act was too ambitious. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had identified the area of coastline, offshore sea ice, and islands as prime real estate for the dens of pregnant polar bears. It was also, as these things happen, prime real estate for oil and gas development. And so we have another entry in the culture wars column. As Zac Unger explained ... Read More
The Fuzzy Face of Climate Change
December 17, 2012 • By • Leave a Comment
On January 24, 2004, in the frigid moonscape of an Arctic winter, wildlife biologist Steven Amstrup rode in a helicopter flying low over the ice. Using an infrared heat detector, he hoped to find polar bears in their dens. When the gun recorded a hit, Amstrup circled around for a closer look. What confronted him was something he had never seen in 34 years of research. The mouth of the den was open, and a smear of bright-red blood stretched away for more than 200 feet. At the end of a long drag trail in the ice lay the still-warm body of a female polar bear. The air temperature was 20 degrees ... Read More
SLIDESHOW: Looking for Polar Bears in Churchill, Manitoba
December 17, 2012 • By • Leave a Comment
Read the full story of Zac Unger's research on the plight of polar bears in Manitoba. ... Read More
