According to two recent reports, both polar bears and walruses are showing the effects of global warming.

There are only about 24,500 polar bears remaining on the planet. Despite some erroneous statements in the blogosphere, this number is in fact lower than historic levels. The naysayers point to polar bear population recovery following over-harvest decades ago. This is hardly the same thing.

Dr. Andrew Derocher, Chair of the IUCN (World Conservation Union) SSC (Species Survival Commission) Polar Bear Specialist Group summarized the polar bears' plight quit succinctly:

"... no habitat, no seals; no seals, no bears. This never was an issue of polar bears alone. The only effective conservation approach is to protect the habitat and this is an issue of climate change. You can distort the issue any way you so desire. At the end of the day, the sea ice is disappearing. Take away the habitat and the species follows shortly thereafter (or before).

"Comparing declines caused by harvest followed by recovery from harvest controls to declines from loss of habitat and climate warming are apples and oranges. Ignorant people write ignorant things."

 

There is an excellent article by Joseph Romm posted on Grist.

There is also a technical report on the polar bear topic that was published in Integrative & Comparative Biology. This one quote from the article sums the situation up pretty clearly: "...it is unlikely that polar bears will survive as a species if the sea ice disappears completely as has been predicted by some.^"



Quoting an Associated Press story: "Thousands of walrus have appeared on Alaska's northwest coast in what conservationists are calling a dramatic consequence of global warming melting the Arctic sea ice.

"Alaska's walrus, especially breeding females, in summer and fall are usually found on the Arctic ice pack. But the lowest summer ice cap on record put sea ice far north of the outer continental shelf, the shallow, life-rich shelf of ocean bottom in the Bering and Chukchi seas.

"Walrus feed on clams, snails and other bottom dwellers. Given the choice between an ice platform over water beyond their 630-foot diving range or gathering spots on shore, thousands of walrus picked Alaska's rocky beaches.

"It looks to me like animals are shifting their distribution to find prey," said Tim Ragen, executive director of the federal Marine Mammal Commission. "The big question is whether they will be able to find sufficient prey in areas where they are looking."

The walrus's situation is compounded by wasteful and illegal killing of these animals for their tusks. Tusk ivory commands a high price in Japan where the tusk ivory is used to make small seals called hanko, and also has high value in the market place where ignorant people still buy ivory carved objects, not thinking about the terrible damage they are causing to a species.