Posted on 01/17/2009 5:15:44 PM PST by Coleus
You've probably seen the commercials; TV actor Noah Wyle (ER, The Librarian) somberly informs us of an impending grave catastrophe: "A tragedy is unfolding in the world today. Climate change is threatening one of the most magnificent wild animals on the planet. Polar bears. They're struggling to survive." Heart-tugging violins accompany video footage of a mother polar bear and her cuddly cub on a small ice flow.
The ice is melting all around them and food is becoming harder to find as they lose their hunting grounds. Climate change. It's happening right now and its leaving mothers weaker and unable to provide for their young and cubs dying without enough to eat. As the struggle and the search for food continues polar bears are hanging on for survival. Polar bears are on their way to extinction. If we don't act now, most will die in our children's lifetime. But you can change that. Call now and join the Wildlife Rescue Team. For just $16 a month you'll be part of the most ambitious effort to save wildlife and wild places the world has ever seen.... If we don't act now, it could be too late for the polar bear.
It is a fundraising appeal for the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), one of the wealthiest environmentalist groups on the planet. The implied message is that the mother bear and cub in the film have been caught by the camera crew in their last desperate gasps, victims of man-made global warming. We are supposed to believe from the images we see, based upon Wyle's narration, that they are weak and starving and soon will be joining the other members of their rapidly dying species.
However, there are several big problems with this picture and message. First of all, there is no evidence provided in the commercial or by WWF in its literature or on its website that this particular polar bear and her cub are weak, starving, or in any distress whatsoever. For all we can tell they are healthy and happy, floating on their iceberg as polar bears do and have done since they've been around on this planet. It is only the narration and the music that suggest otherwise. But, more importantly, the main message of the commercial is a ... big lie. No sense in mincing words. Completely contrary to the WWF's maudlin claims that the cuddly predators are on "their way to extinction," polar bear populations have been exploding. The number of polar bears in the world is four to five times greater than it was 50 years ago, increasing from around 5,000 to an estimated 25,000.
Canadian biologist Dr. Mitchell Taylor, one of the foremost authorities on polar bears, says: "We're seeing an increase in bears that's really unprecedented, and in places where we're seeing a decrease in the population it's from hunting, not from climate change." Dr. Taylor is a real scientist who actually goes out into the field and tracks, observes, tags, and counts polar bears and other arctic mammals. He has been doing this for over two decades, unlike the computer modelers who are making their dire predictions based on their own theoretical climate scenarios.
More on Dr. Taylor and his findings are available from the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works:
"Of the 13 populations of polar bears in Canada, 11 are stable or increasing in number. They are not going extinct, or even appear to be affected at present," Taylor said, noting that Canada is home to two-thirds of the world's polar bears.
He added: "It is just silly to predict the demise of polar bears in 25 years based on media-assisted hysteria."
In September, Taylor further debunked the latest report hyping fears of future polar bear extinctions.
"I think it's naive and presumptuous," Taylor said, referring to a recent report by the U.S. government warning that computer models predict a dire future for the bears due to projected ice loss....
Taylor also debunked the notion that less sea ice means less polar bears by pointing out that southern regions of the bears' home with low levels of ice are seeing booming bear populations. He noted that in the warmer southern Canadian region of the Davis Strait with lower levels of ice, a new survey will reveal that bear populations have grown from an estimated 850 bears to an estimated 3000 bears. And, despite the lower levels of ice, some of the bears measured in this region are among the biggest ever on record.
"Davis Strait is crawling with polar bears. It's not safe to camp there. They're fat. The mothers have cubs. The cubs are in good shape," he said, according to a September 14, 2007 article.
He added: "That's not theory. That's not based on a model. That's observation of reality."
Sen. James Inhofe says of the polar bear "extinction" myth:
The bottom line is that the attempt to list the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act is not based on any evidence that the polar bear populations are declining or in trouble. It is based on computer climate models fraught with uncertainties. The truth is that we clearly do not know enough about most of the polar bear populations to make the argument for listing. And frankly, listing the polar bear isn't about the bear either. It is about trying to bring about climate change regulations using the most powerful development-stopping law in the land, the Endangered Species Act. Polar bears are being used to achieve long sought left-wing environmental regulatory policies.
NEVER let the facts get in the way of the Global Warming Cause, don’t you know that yet????? /sarc
Oh, well, if you're going to do science the old-fashioned way by actually collecting data...
I’m more scared of this global warming hoax than just about anything else going on.
I can see how this issue could be leading excuse to control every aspect of all our lives.
The power of suggestion works even on the TV and the big screen. Show any picture of a polar bear on an ice flow and you can convince millions to pay money to help the homeless polar bears...
“It is about trying to bring about climate change regulations using the most powerful development-stopping law in the land, the Endangered Species Act.” Sen. Inhofe.
Amen. In the Southwest, I watched enviro groups, the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Forest Service use the ESA to put people out of business left and right as well as curb hunting, fishing and tourism.
Ultimately, the most radical enviro people want to destroy our economy and change our form of government.
Let the polar bears live in Detroit! -Perfect climate AND plenty of food for them too!
Anybody that knows anything about the far north knows that polar bears prefer hunting in a garbage dump than having to hunt down a seal or whale on some ice pack..
watching the commercial now on pmsnbc
He added: “That’s not theory. That’s not based on a model. That’s observation of reality.”
It’s about one’s current reality.
Noah (like he had another choice in life after being given that name), didn’t have to survive the detriment of the Three Stooges (they promote violence).
and I don’t even want to go any more after that... if you’re old enough you’ll remember, if not...
I should hope so. We want our children to live longer than the 30 year lifespan of the average polar bear.
bttt
I'm telling you the polar bears are not thriving.
Didn't Mitch Taylor go into lasers/physics? I never thought he would become a polar bear expert.
Imgagine I posted a screengrab from Real Genius
Our area of the country is devoid of polar bears this year.
.......it was devoid of bears last year too since polar bears have never lived here but don’t tell anyone until I collect enough money.
These effin’ polar bears.... I blame them for why we can’t get any new coal fired plants built
Vince McMahon of the WWF
Al Gore
Why have they never been seen together?
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