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Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
A boatload of tourists in the far eastern Russian Arctic thought they were seeing clumps of ice on the shore, before the jaw-dropping realisation that some 200 polar bears were roaming on the mountain slope.
"It was a completely unique situation," said Alexander Gruzdev, director of the Wrangel Island nature reserve where the encounter in September happened. "We were all gobsmacked, to be honest."
The bears had come to feast on the carcass of a bowhead whale that washed ashore, later resting around the food source. The crowd included many families, including two mothers trailed by a rare four cubs each, Gruzdev told AFP.
Climate change means ice, where polar bears are most at home, is melting earlier in the year and so polar bears have to spend longer on land, scientists say.
This might wow tourists but means the bears, more crammed together on coasts and islands, will eventually face greater competition for the little food there is on land.
Locals are also at risk from hungry animals venturing into villages.
Wrangel Island, off the coast of Russia's Chukotka in the northeast, is where polar bears rest after ice melts in early-August until November, when they can leave land to hunt for seals.
It is also considered the birthing centre for the species, with the highest density of maternity dens in the entire Arctic, Gruzdev said.
"A whale is a real gift for them," he said. "An adult whale is several tens of tonnes" that many bears can feed on for several months.
Studies have shown that, compared with 20 years ago, polar bears now spend on average a month longer on Wrangel Island because "ice is melting earlier and the ice-free period is longer," said Eric Regehr, from the University of Washington, the lead American scientist on the US-Russian collaborative study of Wrangel Island polar bears.
Changing ice conditions could also be responsible for the increasing number of bears flocking there, Regehr said.
This autumn, the number of bears observed was 589, far exceeding previous estimates of 200-300, he said, calling it "anomalously high".
[...] "We cannot stop climate change, but we can sort out the situation on the shore and make life easier for the bears," he said, referring to measures such as bear patrols to minimise conflict with humans.
"With changes in nature, that has to be attended to."
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Entropy on Friday November 24 2017, @10:25PM (5 children)
This article claims that less ice is a sign of global warming. The linked article claims that more ice is a sign of global warming. It's a skillfully designed argument--assuming people believe that every possible outcome is proof.
(Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 25 2017, @01:01AM (1 child)
More hair is a sign of aging.
Less hair is also a sign of aging.
WHERE'S YOUR GOD NOW, ATHEISTS?
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 25 2017, @01:11AM
For the hard of thinking, the point made by this AC was that, yes, more ice and less ice can both be signs of warming, depending on where those measurements are made:
For example: if there's less ice in your freezer, but more sloshing about on the kitchen floor, it's more likely to be due to your freezer warming, than your kitchen floor cooling.
(Score: 5, Informative) by dry on Saturday November 25 2017, @05:08AM (1 child)
At 40 below, you get very little actual precipitation, Antarctica for example is mostly desert. Warm that place up to a couple of degrees below zero (Celsius) and you get a lot more precipitation, still in the form of snow, which doesn't melt due to it still being below freezing, ice increases even though it has warmed up by over 30 degrees Celsius. Warm it up a few more degrees to above freezing and the ice starts decreasing.
Once the ice starts decreasing, there is more fresh water flowing downhill until it eventually reaches the ocean, decreasing the salinity, temperature drops a few degrees and that water freezes easier then the salty water used to.
What we learn is that not only is the temperature important in the case of how much ice there is, but also precipitation, salinity of the ocean and then there's whether we're talking about old ice that has been around for years and is usually thick, and new ice that is thin.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 25 2017, @02:21PM
This is why a science education is important. No wonder deniers are so confused, they're used to "common sense" being more useful than it is today.
(Score: 1) by Goghit on Sunday November 26 2017, @09:57PM
Hmm. More heat in the atmosphere leads to more extreme events occurring. Who knew?