Today is International Polar Bear Day - a day to celebrate and raise awareness about the awesome animals which are Polar Bears.
International Polar Bear Day falls on the 27th of February each year. International Polar Bear Day was founded by Polar Bears International - a wildlife non-profit conservation group. The main idea behind International Polar Bear Day, is to raise awareness about the challenges that Polar Bears face today. There are many challenges that Polar Bears face. One of the main ones, is: global warming and climate change. As the world get warmer, the ice in which Polar Bears rely on for their survival, is slowly disappearing.
Melting ice is a huge threat to the existence of Polar Bears. This is because, Polar Bears rely on the ice cover to help them hunt for food. Without the ice, Polar Bears cannot hunt sea animals, and therefore, it is causing Polar Bears to starve.
This is happening today. And nowhere was this more apparent, when a year ago video footage showed the heartbreaking moments of a starved and dying Polar Bear because of climate change.
Sadly, this is not an isolated incident - there is more evidence that Polar Bears are starving as a result of climate change.
Here is another example below...
The loss in Arctic ice is resulting in animals such as Polar Bears is making it more difficult for Polar Bears to find food. And therefore, this is resulting in Polar Bears starving to death.
Polar Bears need sea ice to survive, without the sea ice in the Arctic, it could result in Polar Bears becoming extinct. In December of last year, it was reported that the Arctic ocean has already lost 95% of its old sea ice. What is remarkable is how quick that Arctic ocean ice has disappeared - it's disappeared in a matter of thirty years. It shows the alarming rate at how quickly climate change can change the face of our planet. On top of this, the Arctic could become ice-free during the Summer in just twenty years time.
Currently, Polar Bears as classed as 'vulnerable'. This means that they are vulnerable to extinction; it is one step away from being classed as endangered. The IUCN red list monitors wild animals and animal populations. For example, the IUCN red list lists some wild animals as being of 'least concern' in terms of threatened with extinction, to wild animals being listed as 'critically endangered', which means those wild animals are very close to becoming extinct.
In 2015, the IUCN stated that climate change was the biggest threat facing Polar Bears. It is not just the biggest threat facing Polar Bears today, but will also be the biggest threat facing Polar Bears in the future. In just 20 years, the IUCN estimates that the Polar Bear population will drop by 30% due to climate change.