Posted on 04/06/2012 10:50:10 AM PDT by Mustang Driver
Al Gore is wrong. James Hansen is wrong. Michael Mann is wrong. Phil Jones is wrong. Andrew Revkin is wrong. All those smarmy, self-righteous, sanctimonious and insufferable jerks who use pseudo-science to push their stealth socialism to save the planet are dead wrong.
Global warming is not killing off polar bears.
“The debate about climate change and its impact on polar bears has intensified with the release of a survey that shows the bear population in a key part of northern Canada is far larger than many scientists thought, and might be growing,” the Globe and Mail in Toronto reported.
We have too many polar bears — 5 times the number estimated in the 1960s when hunting for polar bears was effectively banned.
From the Globe and Mail in Toronto:
“The debate over the polar-bear population has been raging for years, frequently pitting scientists against Inuit. In 2004, Environment Canada researchers concluded that the numbers in the region had dropped by 22 per cent since 1984, to 935. They also estimated that by 2011, the population would decrease to about 610. That sparked worldwide concern about the future of the bears and prompted the Canadian and American governments to introduce legislation to protect them.
“But many Inuit communities said the researchers were wrong. They said the bear population was increasing and they cited reports from hunters who kept seeing more bears. Mr. Gissing said that encouraged the government to conduct the recent study, which involved 8,000 kilometres of aerial surveying last August along the coast and offshore islands.
Mr. Gissing said he hopes the results lead to more research and a better understanding of polar bears. He said the media in southern Canada has led people to believe polar bears are endangered. “They are not.” He added that there are about 25,000 polar bears across Canada’s Arctic. “That’s likely the highest [population level] there has ever been.”
“There’s much at stake in the debate. Population figures are used to calculate quotas for hunting, a lucrative industry for many northern communities. Hunting polar bears is highly regulated but Inuit communities can sell their quota to sport hunters, who must hunt with Inuit guides. A polar-bear hunting trip can cost up to $50,000. Demand for polar-bear fur is also soaring in places like China and Russia and prices for some pelts have doubled in the past couple of years, reaching as high as $15,000.”
I know that readers are thinking, but Don, that is only one report. But the report confirms my suspicions. For years, polar bear experts have reported a growing number of underweight polar bears heading south for food. Far from being signs of an apocalyptic extinction, those are classic signs of overpopulation. The habitat is not shrinking; over-breeding that has the species overrunning the land (in this case the sea. We stopped hunting to beef up the herd, so to speak. Now the polar bears suffer as there are too many of them.
Happy hunting.
I live near the Arctic, and a fair number of my students come from there. They tell me that the number of hunters up north is in decline - hey, why go out for ringed seal when there’s chips at the store - even though everyone loves seal oil and muktuk. Still, the hunting is in decline. Around here (the Alaska interior), the bear population is booming from lessened hunting.
Doesn’t fit the narrative, though. LOL
I live near the Arctic, and a fair number of my students come from there. They tell me that the number of hunters up north is in decline - hey, why go out for ringed seal when there’s chips at the store - even though everyone loves seal oil and muktuk. Still, the hunting is in decline. Around here (the Alaska interior), the bear population is booming from lessened hunting.
Doesn’t fit the narrative, though. LOL
Thanks to ESA, one may shoot a polar bear, but caan’t bring it into the USA.
Repeal ESA!
What does Mittens have to say about this?
Whatever you want to hear.
And Coca Cola is wrong.
Is it possible to comercially raise polar bears? Seems like a good market.
Polar bears are now crossing with grizzlies in Alaska.
You can find several reports on the internet but people here have seen them. Several men at the mine where my husband works reported seeing them. They are huge without a bump on their backs. They are brown and white. The combination of polar and grizzly must be awesome. Polars are cunning and stalk their prey. Grizzlies are tempermental to say the least. Eegad!!
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