Friday, September 25, 2020

The Truth: Polar Bears are Really Starving Because of Global Warming


Angelinna Faisca

AP Bio E/F Even

Current Event  #1


Leahy, Stephen. “Polar Bears Really Are Starving Because of Global Warming, Study Shows.” Polar Bears Are Starving Because of Global Warming, Melting Sea Ice, Study Shows, 1 Feb. 2018, www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2018/02/polar-bears-starve-melting-sea-ice-global-warming-study-beaufort-sea-environment/. 


In the article by Stephen Leahy, "Polar Bears Really Are Starving Because of Global Warming, Study Shows", there is a significant amount of importance that is placed upon the problem of the polar ice caps melting. The reason that this problem is so important, is because now Polar bears have to swim farther in order to capture seals, which make up about 95% of their diet, meaning that without seals, they will not have proper nutrition. Along with this percentage, Polar bears now have to spend at least 60% of their energy, meaning that if they do not get a meal, it is all for nothing. As we learned in bio, ,without the proper resources, such as food and space, animal populations can do nothing but go down. In the article, population is talked about, as there is about 770,000 miles less of ice than there was in the 1980's. This number is alarming, as Polar bears are faced with longer trips and fights amongst each other. In one study, made by Anthony Pagano, it involved capturing nine female Polar bears and releasing them, re-capturing them eight to 11 days later. One bear had gone about 155 miles just to look for food, and the result of this study was that about four bears were not able to obtain a seal. From this study, we were given the percentage of about 35%, which showed how active they are, but it is even more alarming that they use up so much energy, mainly from reserves, as they use up about 12,325 calories a day, however they rarely get the chance to make up those calories again. The article also spoke of the myth of climate change, and how it doesn't affect people or animals. Leahy talked about a study that had shown that by scientific projections, populations now, of 20,000 to 30,000 are going to be less than 10,000 in the year 2050.  In another study by Andrew Derocher, it has been found that Polar bears are not made for walking, and because of the their home melting, they have to exert themselves to find food. Overall, his article examined the importance of the factors that have been ailing the poor Polar bears, and has said again why the ice caps need saving, and why people need to be more open about and aware of.


Polar bears aren't the only things that get impacted by the melting ice caps. People also are afflicted by this, including having their homes washed away, and ocean levels rising. I think this article describes what the problems are and the effects of them, trying to make people aware of what is actually going on. Especially for those who do not want to see the truth in global warming, especially when the ice is melting about 14% every year. Over all this article helps to show people why saving the ice caps is and should be a real talked about issue.


I thought that the author of this article, Stephen Leahy, made it very simple for you to understand what is going on, and also showed pictures of these animals, trying to get the reader more involved with the issue, including showing a video of a poor bear, that is starved and skinny, walking around and trying to find food, which finally, it finds some in a garbage can, also telling readers that they become very desperate as they are trying to find food. I think the article could have been structured in a more professional way, instead of small paragraphs and then it moves on to the next section, which I found to be tedious. Regardless of this, this article was very informative and the video Leahy had included, really affected me and I think it will stay with every one of its readers.

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