The Polar Bear Capital of the World sounds like a prime spot to observe the animals, and researchers who did just that came away with a stark warning.
What's happening?
A team from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, spent a week on the Hudson Bay in Churchill, Manitoba, in 2018, studying the creatures and gathering data about their gut microbiome. They collected the fecal microbiome of wild and captive polar bears and compared their findings to understand how the changing climate affects the bears' diet and health.
The captive polar bears, on a long-term high-protein diet, "exhibited a more diverse and distinct fecal microbiome than their wild counterparts, likely due to dietary and habitat shifts," according to Dal News.
Wild polar bears, which usually eat high-fat seals, are missing out on their marine mammal-based diet because of the human-caused rising global temperature and resulting lack of Arctic Sea ice, which forces them to remain on land for longer periods of time. The study mimicked these changes by feeding the captive animals a diet heavy in mackerel and seaweed, as polar bear populations suffering from decreased ice coverage and longer ice-free seasons are turning to low-fat, high-protein diets.
The concerning findings belied the idyllic setting.
"It's a place where encountering polar bears is a surprisingly common occurrence. You could run into one almost anywhere," said Jing Lu, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Animal Science and Aquaculture. "It wasn't unusual to find yourself enjoying a meal while a polar bear stared back at you through the window."
Why is this important?
Lu said polar bears rely on sea ice for food, movement, and reproduction. They also depend on winter feedings to survive. She called them "among the most vulnerable species affected by shrinking sea ice and global warming."
Arctic Sea ice has lost about a quarter of its cooling power since 1980, according to one study. This is because it's melting, covering less area, and reflecting less sunlight. And it has an impact on everything from algae to polar bears.
Without this powerful cooling mechanism, the increasingly warmer Earth is losing balance. If sea ice continues to decline at the poles, temperatures will become hotter, and extreme weather events will continue to grow more frequent and severe.
"Our findings show that if they are able to adapt and survive, the polar bears we know now will be very different animals," said Dr. Stephanie Collins, a member of the Dalhousie faculty and who headed the research team.
What's being done about the rising global temperature?
The human-driven climate crisis is the result of the burning of dirty sources of energy such as coal, gas, and oil. This releases toxic heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere, amplifying the greenhouse effect and harming human health, wildlife, and the environment.
To contribute to a cooler future in which polar bears freely roam vast sheets of sea ice, you can take small steps at home, such as washing your clothes in cold water, shirking plastic, and eating cleaner. Big steps include buying an induction stove, a heat pump, and solar panels. Most important may be talking about it by sharing your values with family and friends.
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