Susan Crockford
As this 12 months attracts to an in depth, it’s price noting that during the last 12 months — and opposite to predictions and headlines, together with claims about “the warmest 12 months ever” — polar bears haven’t been reported dying, ravenous, or consuming one another in massive numbers, or relentlessly attacking individuals. On high of that, summer season sea ice protection within the Arctic has stalled for the final 17 years, not melted out in a loss of life spiral of rotten ice.
Aside from the mendacity and obfuscation that the majority of us have come to count on, I’ve largely been left to reiterate that polar bears should not “canaries within the coal mine” indicators of local weather change and to level out that Arctic sea ice extent and polar bear survival are not inextricably tied. For instance, in some particular areas of curiosity, like Western Hudson Bay, there has not been a constant decline in sea ice over the previous couple of a long time and bears should not attacking individuals at elevated charges as a result of they’re desperately hungry. In different areas, just like the Svalbard space of the western Barents Sea, sea ice has declined dramatically in recent times but polar bears haven’t been attacking individuals greater than normal.
Contradictions and failed predictions abound.
All in all, a somewhat boring 12 months for the anticipated implosion of polar bear well being and survival, regardless of my fixed monitoring of publicly-available info. That stated, I wish to take this chance to thanks all once more on your continued help, and particularly those that have donated hard-earned money over the previous couple of months: your help makes it attainable for me to proceed my work protecting polar bear science trustworthy. Collectively, we now have made a distinction and I do know it’s well worth the combat. As a result of if we let evidence-based science die with out problem, we lose our means to make sense of the world.
All the very best for 2024 to you all.
Arctic ecology 2023 replace
From this month’s NOAA Arctic Report Card for 2023 on sea ice:
Additionally in accordance with NOAA researchers, major productiveness in 2023 continued to be greater than 2003 throughout the Arctic, with elevated values particularly within the Barents Sea and Hudson Bay which finally advantages polar bears with extra seals to eat:
