According to a report from Wednesday, February 07, the polar bear is officially being viewed by the U.S. government as an endangered species: http://www.polarbearsinternational.org/in-the-news/threatened-species/. Due to global warming, the waters in the north are beginning their annual freeze later than usual, and the ice is, inversely, breaking up earlier, decreasing the time of solid ice. This change is detrimental to the mammals, as they need to be on solid ice in order to hunt. NSF’s International Polar Year website, http://nsf.gov/news/special_reports/arctic/index.jsp, explains, “Besides warmer air temperatures and melting permafrost, sea ice, and glaciers, other substantial changes have taken place in the Arctic. Out-of-place plant communities are appearing in the high latitudes, subsurface ocean currents are warmer and precipitation patterns have changed, all of which affect animal habitats and migration routes. With fewer than 25,000 polar bears remaining on the planet, the situation appears grim unless serious actions are undertaken to address the issue of global warming. For more information, please visit the following NSDL resources:

Slide Presentation on Climate Science and Potential Consequences of Climate Change:

http://oaspub.epa.gov/eims/eimsapi.dispdetail?deid=19495

A powerpoint presentation on climate changes.

Grade Level: Undergraduate, Graduate

The Polar Bear Tracker:

Panda.org

A WWF site pertaining to the polar bear. Contains news, information about polar bears, and field notes about the bears currently being tracked.

Grade Level: Middle School, High School, Undergraduate

RealClimate:

http://www.realclimate.org/

This website offers the latest news and responses to developments on the climate change front. Visitors can contribute comments and suggest a topic for discussion.