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Polar Bears On The Endangered Species List…

Under legal pressure from three environmental groups [the Centre for Biological Diversity, the Natural Resources Defence Council and Greenpeace], the Bush administration, this week, finally proposed listing polar bears as ‘threatened’ under the Endangered Species Act.

By law, once a species is listed under the Act, governments are barred from doing anything to jeopardize the animal's existence or its habitat.

However, the government can take up to a year to complete this proposal, and it can abandon the proposed listing altogether if it unearths new scientific projections about the bears' fate. Fortunately, that appears unlikely, as recent models have consistently pointed to a faster deterioration of Arctic sea ice from global warming, being sped up by large greenhouse gas emissions of carbon dioxide.

The move is being hailed as an exciting step forward for environmentalists, as it raises further legal implications as to whether the government should also be required to compel U.S. industries to curb their carbon dioxide output, an eventuality which the Bush administration has heretofore denied emphatically. Many will remember that this very case is currently before the US Supreme Court.

While the Polar Bear population has been stable in recent years the bear facts are, that polar bears are facing immediate threats from the effects of global warming, including, environmental contamination and potential over-hunting.

US federal scientists have noted many other disturbing signs, where bears have resorted to open-water swimming, with many being found drowned in areas where the ice has now melted. Some smaller groups of bears near the Beaufort Sea, were found to have resorted

to cannibalism in an effort to stay alive. US Sea and Wildlife Officials claim that with increasing temperatures and without protection the polar bear may well become extinct within 45 years.

It is estimated that worldwide there are 19 separate polar bear populations, which total somewhere between 22,000 and 25,000 polar bears worldwide. It is estimated that about 5,000 of them live in Alaska, spending part of the year in Canada and Russia.
The other colonies live in Greenland and Norway.

In Alaska, only Indians, Aleuts, and Eskimos who live in coastal are permitted to hunt the bears, which they can use for meat and in making native handicrafts.

Source : Washington Post, ENN News, stopglobalwarming.com
Photos courtesy: www.ngo.grida.no, www.alaska.net, animals.timduru.org
www.alaska-bear-pictures.com, projects.edtech.sandi.net
www.duiops.net, www.firstpeople.us, thisismycomputerblog.blogspot.com
putfile.com

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December 29th 2006 @ 06:19

Posted By: Lilla - Category: Environmental

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Comments

16 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

1. December 29th 2006 @ 07:36. LaurenD Says:

Thank you for putting this together with your usual expertise. I came in late last night to this clip on Jim Lehrer and missed the core of the story.

Thank you. The Innuit would call you BearWoman.

LaurenD

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2. December 29th 2006 @ 07:49. katyzzz Says:

Lilla,

I have fallen in love with those delightful bears, how could anyone bear to destroy them.

And they are so pristinely white and pure.

katyzzz

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3. December 29th 2006 @ 10:53. Lilla Says:

Thank LaurenD,

Wow, what an honour to actually be called that by such a nation of people... that would be a red letter calender day, wouldn't it?

Meanwhile I am glad I could fill in the missing pieces... I love the paradox that has escalated areound the preservation and the continuation of global commercialisation...

I've said it before, I'll say it again... interesting times...

Talk again soon

Lilla...

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4. December 29th 2006 @ 10:57. Lilla Says:

Yes Katyzzz,

I am really happy that we can see that they need help now and that there are people out there working at it... so hard not to love big curious, playful fluffballs like that... kind of reminds me of my husband a bit actually... they call him bear *lol*

the problem is that every time we create more CO2 we are ALL Destroying them...

he's certainly playful and cuddly...

Lilla

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5. December 29th 2006 @ 18:07. Always Eighteen Says:

I just came from sea world the other day and saw the polar bears... nooooooooooooooo they can't leave us!

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6. December 29th 2006 @ 19:49. Lilla Says:

Hi AE,

...I agreeeeeee... hopefully now they won't...

)

Lilla...

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7. December 30th 2006 @ 00:35. Ragin Cajun Says:

It's about time they did this. In fact, may I suggest putting all species of bears worldwide on a protected list (if they aren't in it already). This may raise the public's awareness on not just the great species like the grizzly and black bears, but also on lesser-known species like the sun bear and the sloth bear.

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8. December 30th 2006 @ 18:24. Ashish Says:

thats really sad.When are hmans really going to think...

Actually thanks to those ploticains who dont care about all these....

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9. December 30th 2006 @ 23:15. Lilla Says:

Hi Rajin...

...wonderful to see you again!!!

...you are 100% there, but I think the problem for some of them now is dissapearing habitat... no where to run, so to speak, so it makes it a can of worms for the pollies because it involves halting [or slowing] some form of industry and (((PROFITS))) ... Oh NOooo, not profits!!! You know what I mean.... but you are right, and I only hope this is the ray of hope that leads the way to them all becoming protected, exactly as you say...

I feel that there is a change in the breeze on this whole issue of CO2 and global warming... a turning point... perhaps a recliaming point...(?) The case in court in the US is riveting and the recent swing by global companies like Victoria's Secret proving that profits are not always compromised in order to save something of real value is possible ...

I love sloth bears... especailly Sid in Ice Age... did you see it?

I wish you a really Happy New Year, and hope your year unfolds with many joys and wonders in its days...

Lilla...

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10. December 30th 2006 @ 23:20. Lilla Says:

Thanks for your comment Ashish,

yes sad... but hopeful too... I think the time to think is now .. we can not ignore these issues anymore - even if they are a part of a larger cycle outside of our control, we must still be responsible for the part we have [and are] playing in it all...

I guess the truth is that we are all destroying these bears and every living thing, including ourselves.. everytime we fail to conserve, think we cannot make a difference and create more CO2 through ignorance or arrogance ...

I guess, affluent socities are all responsible to a degree - down to who we vote for and what we stand for...

Lilla...

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11. December 31st 2006 @ 01:49. MelissaA Says:

Great to hear!

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12. December 31st 2006 @ 04:02. Ragin Cajun Says:

Hey, Lilla. You're right about business interests being part of the problem, but I think a major issue is demand of bear body parts like gall bladders and paws, which leads to poaching, blah de blah. You know what happens next. I agree, though, that the habitats of bears, especially polar bears, are shrinking. It would be sad to see them lose their homes.

Thanks for the greetings. Hope you have a great New Year as well.

-RC

P.S. I think Sid from Ice Age is a cave sloth.

Not sure, though.

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13. January 3rd 2007 @ 01:23. KylieW Says:

God 45 years and these amazing creatures could be extinct. That's so unbelievably sad. Of course, the pain that we'll put them through before they die out is just heart wrenching. The fact that some have turned to cannibalism to survive? That's just...actually I don't have words....

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14. January 3rd 2007 @ 02:29. Lilla Says:

Hi KylieW,

... it is very distressing, sorry to have upset you... the saddest thing of all is that the human race will go the same way if things don't change.

With an estimated 12 billion predicted by the year 2100, and with today's complete lack of support for the primary producers of the world - especially Australian farmers - there will not be enough food to support the burgeoning population... end game!

sadly, but with hope that things will change before crunch time ...

Lilla...

Horrorphile

15. January 4th 2007 @ 02:59. Bryn Says:

God, i go from the delight of dolphins to the despair that possibly in 45 years (within my lifetime) my FAVOURITE animal in the world could be extinct ... This just makes me want to cry ...!

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16. January 4th 2007 @ 07:31. Lilla Says:

Sorry Bryn, you and me alike ...

...some good people are now jumping on board though to start saving them - even it is - sadly, to zoos?

It's not looking good, although this case could spearhead the push for CO2 emissions control by US, by it's own legislation ... sad times we live in, for sure...

Lilla

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