How to Save Critically Endangered Polar Bears
Melting ice (due to human-induced climate change – confirmed by 97% of climate scientists – the other 3% are funded by the oil industry) stops polar bears from hunting seals, their main source of food.
Polar bears must swim longer distances, or wander onto land where food is scarce and they come into contact with humans (polar bears are also at risk from hunting and oil/plastic pollution).
Climate scientists say that if current planet trends continue, the Arctic could see ice-free summers (a death sentence for polar bears, as they can’t adapt to life on land).
The main way to help is to protect and preserve the Arctic Circle, leaving it free from pollution from oil and drilling for oil. This is why Trump’s recent decision to ‘drill, drill, drill’ is at risk of sending these amazing creatures extinct.
- Use less oil (drive and fly less) and switch to green energy. Ecotricity is the only company that does not make green energy, from burning animal carcasses from abattoirs.
- Never visit zoos (polar bears have around 1 million times more space in the wild). There are plenty of wildlife ecologists helping to preserve natural habitats in their real homes.
- Use your vote. This is so important. Choosing politicians that stand up to the USA on policies like drilling for oil and gas (against advice of the Paris Climate Agreement) is what we need.
For humans, the Arctic is a harshly inhospitable place. But the conditions there are precisely what polar bears require to survive – and thrive. ‘Harsh’ to us, is ‘home’ for them.
Take away the ice and snow, increase the temperature by even a little, and the realm that makes their lives possible, literally melts away. Sylvia Earle
Aside from stopping Trump getting his hands on Greenland, there are more ways we can help critically endangered polar bears.
Sea ice is polar bears’ hunting ground
Picture trying to live off a supermarket that only opens a few months a year. That’s close to what’s happening to polar bears. Sea ice is their hunting ground, and they rely on it to catch seals. As the Arctic warms faster than the rest of the world, that ice forms later and breaks up sooner.
Please don’t let Trump buy Greenland
This is terrifying. Because if Trump were to annexe Greenland, he would undoubtedly open up this area to explore for oil, and this would likely be the extinction of polar bears.
With his approval ratings at an all-time low in the USA, it seems increasingly likely that he could be impeached, if (and likely) when the Republicans badly lose in the mid-term elections at the end of 2026.
Even former actor Scott Baio (who once hero-worshipped Trump) has done a U-turn after innocent people were shot dead by ICE officers in Minneapolis. Latest polls suggest that Trump is even less popular with over two-thirds of US voters than ants (we like ants!)
It’s widely expected that Gavin Newsome will run for the presidency in 2028 (and he will almost certainly win by a landslide given the unpopularity of vice-president JD Vance). So if we can wait that long, hopefully the polar bears will be safe.
