Disaster for Polar Bears

Ice in the Arctic is receding by about ten percent every ten years due to climate change as well as the fact that the Arctic is warming faster than the Earth as a whole. That spells disaster for polar bears, which live exclusively in the Arctic and are now considered a “threatened” species.

The primary food source for polar bears is seal meat. Polar bears hunt seals by standing on the ice and grabbing or biting them when they come to the surface to breathe, and then dragging them onto the ice where the bear has the advantage. Seal blubber is packed with fat and calories that the bears need to sustain their massive bodies.[1]

But what happens if there is no ice? A polar bear is a poor swimmer compared to a seal, so polar bears in the water have a difficult time catching their dinner. If they cannot get seal meat, polar bears will try to survive on whatever they can find, which can include ducks, geese, bird eggs, berries and other vegetation, bones, antlers, or the occasional beached whale. But these foods are not as abundant or as calorie-rich as seal meat, leaving the bears struggling to survive.[2] So the vanishing Arctic ice could spell doom for the polar bears.

To learn more about what climate change is, how it is impacting our world, and how it might be fulfilling biblical prophecy, read Chapter 11 of my book, Beyond Blind Faith, entitled “Apocalypse Soon.” You can read it in its entirety for free on this website. Just click here, or click on “Don’s Books” at the top of this page and go to the “List of Contents” under my book, Beyond Blind Faith.

[1]. The average male polar bear weighs about 1,200 pounds, and the average female weighs about 700 pounds. The largest male and female polar bears weigh around 1,700 pounds and 1,000 pounds, respectively.

[2]. This blog entry is based in part on the following sources:

“Polar Bear” on the website of the National Wildlife Federation, found at: https://www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Mammals/Polar-Bear#:~:text=Polar%20bears%20hunt%20seals%20by,eat%20walruses%20and%20whale%20carcasses.

“As ice melts, polar bears scrounge for food,” by Jeffrey Kluger, in Time Magazine, March 11, 2024, p. 18.

“Why are glaciers and sea ice melting?” on the website of the World Wildlife Fund, found at: https://www.worldwildlife.org/pages/why-are-glaciers-and-sea-ice-melting#:~:text=Today%2C%20the%20Arctic%20is%20warming,than%2010%25%20every%2010%20years.