FACT BRIEF

Are polar bears endangered?

Wednesday, April 28, 2021

By Anne-Marie Blackburn

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YES

A 2020 study published in Nature Climate Change found that most polar bear populations could become extinct by 2100 if high greenhouse gas emissions from human activities continue. Polar bears are classified as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Polar bears, which live in the Arctic, use sea ice to hunt seals, their main food source. Human-caused global warming has driven a rapid loss of Arctic sea ice, making it more difficult for polar bears to eat enough to survive.

There are 19 subpopulations of polar bears. According to the World Wildlife Fund in 2019, 4 were in decline, 5 were stable, 2 were increasing, and 8 were data-deficient.

In 1973, the international community agreed to restrict polar bear hunting, which helps explain why the population is estimated to be higher today than it was in the 1970s. This does not change polar bears’ endangered status.

See a full discussion of this at Skeptical Science

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Sources

Nature Fasting season length sets temporal limits for global polar bear persistence

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species New assessment highlights climate change as most serious threat to polar bear survival

University of Washington Rapid decline of Arctic sea ice a combination of climate change and natural variability

NASA Arctic Sea Ice Minimum

BBC Earth Hungry Polar Bear Ambushes Seal | The Hunt

WWF Polar bear status and population

Polar Bears International Are polar bear populations increasing?

ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR

Skeptical Science

Skeptical Science is a non-profit science education organization. Our goal is to remove a roadblock to climate action by building public resilience against climate misinformation. We achieve this by publishing debunking of climate myths as well as providing resources for educators, communicators, scientists, and the general public. Skeptical Science was founded and is led by John Cook, a Senior Research Fellow with the Melbourne Centre for Behaviour Change at the University of Melbourne.

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