This week, the polar bear may be declared "threatened" and make its way onto the list established by the Endangered Species Act.
Two weeks ago, a federal judge ordered the U.S. Department of the Interior to decide whether the polar bear deserves protection by May 15 -- Thursday.
If the polar bear is labeled as threatened, it would be the first species to be listed because of the threat of global warming. This development would go far beyond protecting polar bears. It would open legal routes to challenge any new coal power plant and any industry or other source of carbon dioxide emissions because they might contribute to global warming and therefore threaten the polar bear.
Quick background on the Endangered Species ActThe Endangered Species Act has two levels of protection: "endangered" means a species is in danger of becoming extinct, and "threatened" means a species is likely to become endangered in the future. If the polar bear is listed, it would likely be as "threatened," which would support the contention that it is jeopardized by global warming and shrinking ice.
What's the threat to polar bears? Polar Bears International says:
Scientists predict that, if current warming trends continue in the Arctic, two-thirds of the world's polar bears could disappear by 2050. At the most recent meeting of the IUCN Polar Bear Specialist Group (held in Seattle in 2005), the world's leading polar bear scientists reported that of the 19 subpopulations of polar bears, five were declining, five were stable, two were increasing, and seven had insufficient data to make a determination.
Time summarizes the situation
this way:
As temperatures warm, the Arctic sea ice that supports the polar bear shrinks, leaving the animals to drown as they are forced to swim long distances between the ice, or simply starve to death. The summer of 2007 saw record melting of Arctic sea ice, and NASA scientists now predict that the Arctic could be ice-free as soon as the summer of 2013. "Without the sea ice, there is no polar bear," says Andrew Wetzler, director of the Natural Resource Defense Council's endangered species project. Indeed, a study by the United States Geological Service in September 2007 projected that the polar bear population -- which currently stands at roughly 25,000 -- could decline two-thirds by 2050.
How would polar bear protection affect us?You know, no doubt, what happens when an animal is placed on the list. Its habitat becomes protected. But polar bears cover a lot of ground.
As Mother Jones pointed out: "Protections for the polar bear could extend well beyond its natural habitat in the U.S., along the Beaufort and Chukchi seas of northern and western Alaska."
There are groups that say placing the polar bear on the endangered species list will increase oil prices because it will shut down any possibility of further oil exploration in Alaska. Many Native American groups and the Alaskan government
oppose the listing.
Earlier this year, when oil companies bid on the rights to drill in the Chukchi Sea, environmental groups protested that it would endanger polar bears.
But others have argued that some bear species have actually been growing.
Breakdown of endangered speciesFrom the Fish and Wildlife Service:
The Fish and Wildlife Service has reports on how many and which species:
More detailed info from the agency can be found
here.
