Mt. Shasta In January

 

Images by Eric Falconer and Christian Jordan

Polar Bears. Turns out they are doing just fine, thanks.

 Polar bears became the poster child for the peril of climate change for obvious reasons: They hunt seals from the ice, and as fossil fuels warm the planet, the ice where these bears live is melting.

For more than three decades, scientists have been warning that climate change could drive polar bear populations extinct. That message infiltrated the public psyche, perhaps more than any other about the scourge of global warming. . . .

Now, research in the journal Scientific Reports adds yet another wrinkle of hope for the species. The study, an analysis of hundreds of polar bears in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, found that declining sea ice is not causing polar bears to starve. They actually appeared healthier in the last two decades of the analysis, from 2000 to 2019. The overall population, meanwhile, is either stable or growing, according to Jon Aars, the study’s lead author and a scientist at the Norwegian Polar Institute.

“I was surprised,” Aars told Vox from Svalbard. “I would have predicted that body condition would decline. We see the opposite.”

The Morning Smile

 

 

 

Very Friendly

 

Spooky

 

 

Coleman North Rim 0°F Big & Tall Sleeping Bag

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Simple But Useful

 

Heavy-Duty Portable Camping Grill Grate for Campfire Cooking

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How much?

 

Extraordinary Entrance

 

A Rich Man

 

Too Far Gone?

 

Santa Maria Maggiore, Bergamo, Italy

 

Nice Presentation

 

Pals

 

 

Big Boys