More polar bear cubs die as Arctic ice melts

reuters ^ | July 18, 2011 | Deborah Zabarenko

[PROCON]

(Reuters) - Polar bear cubs forced to swim long distances with their mothers as their icy Arctic habitat melts appear to have a higher mortality rate than cubs that didn't have to swim as far, a new study reports.

Polar bears hunt, feed and give birth on ice or on land, and are not naturally aquatic creatures. Previous reports have noted individual animals swimming hundreds of miles (kilometers) to reach ice platforms or land, but this is one of the first to show these swims pose a greater risk to polar bear young.

[PROCON]

Oh, the Huge Manatee!!

Let me be the first to say:

Bush's Fault!

[PROCON]

Ping!

[reaganaut]

Oh good, I needed a new rug.

[Retired Greyhound]

[cripplecreek]

Polar bear cubs forced to swim long distances with their mothers as their icy Arctic habitat melts appear to have a higher mortality rate than cubs that didn't have to swim as far, a new study reports.

That actually makes sense but doesn't mean anything other than bears that swim long distances tend to die more often The fact that they compare them to bares that don't swim long distances seems to negate their headline grabber.

[MeganC]

http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/

There’s the sea ice map for today. Where on that map is it possible for a polar bear to swim just 100 miles, let alone ‘hundreds’, in order to transit open ocean between land masses and ice floes? It is not possible and this story is just sheer BS.

[Brilliant]

Al Gore is to blame... Get rid of the carbon hogging jet plane, Al.

[GSWarrior]

I hope the Koch brothers are satisfied!

[Sacajaweau]

And how do you go about finding a lot of dead polar bear cubs which have obviously become bait??

They're going to have to convince me this is true with a lot of actual data...not projected data.

[Kirkwood]

This is good. Gets rid of the weak genes.

[grey_whiskers]

Cheers!

[FourPeas]

I call Barbara Streisand.

[irishtenor]

Here in King County in Washington state, they passed an ordinance the requires everybody WADING in a stream or lake to wear a life jacket!
Maybe we should pass a law that all polar bears have to wear a life jacket.

[PhilosopherStone1000]

Hmm... let’s see... cubs who have stupid mothers who give birth far from food sources are more likely to die than those with smart mothers who give birth closer to food sources...

I think there’s a name for that process... (thinking...) now what could that be...

Oh yeah, I think it’s called “evolution”.

[steelyourfaith]

Thanx for the ping PROCON !

 

Beam me to Planet Gore !

[PROCON]

[Maine Mariner]

So if an adult wants to swim in a lake they are required to wear a lifejacket?

[Sacajaweau]

There were 50 long distance swims....IN 6 YEARS....

I think they created a very phoney stat.

[digger48]

Here in King County in Washington state, they passed an ordinance the requires everybody WADING in a stream or lake to wear a life jacket! Maybe we should pass a law that all polar bears have to wear a life jacket.

We had an OSHA inspector (one of Holders people), demand our guys wear life jackets to work in a ditch with 3 inches of water flowing.

She couldn't find the precise regulation in her book, but she was sure it was there.

[irishtenor]

YES!!!

Even those competing in Triathlons!