If polar bears are stripped of their natural habitat — the ice cap — they will essentially be doomed. They will die of hunger, and their species will be almost entirely extinct by the end of this century. The alarm over the fate that could befall these animals — dependent on the rise in average global temperature and the consequent melting of the polar ice — has been raised by a study published on 20 July by the scientific journal Nature Climate Change.

The New York Times ✓ @nytimes

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Polar bears could become nearly extinct by century’s end if climate change continues unabated, scientists said
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Arctic sea ice could melt completely in summer

The authors focused specifically on the progressive disappearance of the ecosystem in which polar bears live by hunting seals, which are essential to their diet. These carnivores are accustomed to fasting for months — that is, during the summer, when the surface of the ice cap is reduced. But the situation in the coming decades could prove considerably more serious.

According to the Special Report 1.5 of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (Ipcc), particularly in the event that the average global temperature were to exceed 2 degrees Celsius (by 2100, relative to pre-industrial levels), life could become impossible for polar bears. Consider that once every decade, during the summer period, the Arctic ice cap could melt completely.

Female polar bears may no longer be able to produce milk

At the North Pole, in fact, global warming is proceeding at a far faster rate than the global average for land surfaces and oceans. This poses a serious problem in particular for female polar bears: "In spring, when they emerge from their dens, they must be able to hunt enough seals to store sufficient fat to produce milk and feed their cubs during the summer fast," explained to the AFP news agency Steven Amstrup, one of the study's authors and an executive at Polar Bears International.

BBC News (World) ✓ @BBCWorld

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"Polar bears are already sitting at the top of the world; if the ice goes, they have no place to go"

Scientists warn polar bears could be lost by 2100 unless more is done to tackle climate change bbc.in/2CuqJlC

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"We estimated," added Peter Molnar of the University of Toronto, "the minimum and maximum weight of the bears, developing models that indicate their energy expenditure. We then calculated the maximum number of fasting days that can be endured before the survival rate of adults and cubs begins to decline." The result is that the difficulties faced by the species and the decline in reproduction will endanger "almost all bear populations by 2100," Amstrup warns.

It is therefore increasingly urgent to act to limit the growth of average global temperature by zeroing net CO2 emissions as soon as possible.