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Article: As arctic ice melts, polar bears may starve: polar bear habitats are melting faster than scientists had thought. (Environment).
- Article from:
- The Futurist
- Article date:
- July 1, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 World Future Society. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Hungry polar bears stalk seals in the Arctic by lumbering across ice sheets and perching on floating ice chunks. As camouflage and hunting ground, sea ice is vital to polar bear survival--and new research shows it's melting faster than scientists had previously thought.
In fact, if global warming continues unabated, polar bears could starve off in the next 100 years, University of Alberta biologist Andrew Derocher fears.
"The climate predictions coming out are showing massive changes in sea-ice distribution," says Derocher, an Arctic ecosystems expert. "You don't have to be a polar scientist to see that if you take away all the sea ice you don't have ...