Polar Bear: First Victim of Climate Change?

In a widely anticipated decision, the U.S. Interior Department may decide as soon as this week whether to list polar bears under the Endangered Species Act, according to the Los Angeles Times. The type of manmade threat is a new one: climate change.

A recent report by the U.S. Geological Survey showed that as many as two-thirds of the great Arctic predator might die if warming continues unabated and sea ice disappears. In fact, sea ice reached an all time record summer minimum this year and some experts predict summer sea ice in the Arctic might become a thing of the past this century. Polar bears rely on this sea ice to hunt seals.

As a result of this growing concern, groups devoted to their protection--and that of their own way of life, such as native Alaskans--have sued the federal government over its plans to open up land in the Chukchi Sea to oil exploration.

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