A group of several hundred polar bears in south-eastern Greenland often catch seals by waiting outside their prey's breathing holes on blocks of floating freshwater ice from glaciers, as an example of the animals adapting to a loss of sea ice caused by climate change.
Carissa Wong is a person.
The polar bear has fur.
Thomas.W.Johansen is a member of the group.
When the sea ice retreats in the warmer months, a group of polar bears are able to hunt through blocks of freshwater ice. Loss of sea ice is the greatest threat to the survival of the animals.
There are holes in blocks of floating ice where polar bears can find seals. The seals are slower on ice than in water. Climate change is threatening this. The polar bears are projected to decline by 30 percent over the next three generations.
There is evidence for a previously-un documented and highly-isolated subpopulation of polar bears on the south-eastern coast of Greenland. They can hunt in fjords that are free of sea ice for more than eight months of the year.
Data from previous studies were combined with genetic samples from polar bears to analyse them. A few hundred polar bears are the most genetically isolated of their species in the south-eastern part of the island.
This genetically-isolated group hunts via floating blocks of freshwater ice, broken off from glaciers, for about 250 days of the year when sea ice has melted. The area has no sea ice for a long time, which makes it a good location for polar bears.
The fact that all polar bears are more resilient than we previously thought is a good sign.
Glacier ice may help small numbers of polar bears survive for longer periods under climate warming, but it is not available for the majority of polar bears.
The future of polar bears is dependent upon climate action. Sea ice is the most important factor in determining the number of polar bears.
The findings offer a ray of hope that other refugia habitats may be available for polar bears to use, so that they can persist until greenhouse gas emissions are mitigated and sea ice habitat is recovered.
Ensuring the long-term persistence of a polar bear population is dependent on preserving their sea ice habitat. Climate change will need to be mitigated.
Climate change doesn't make genetically-isolated bears immune to it.
Warming is likely to affect the ringed seal population in the area. The main prey of the bears may disappear if the ringed seals don't have breeding habitats.
The journal is called Science.
There are more on this topic.
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