Canada’s polar bears are at extreme risk and getting it from all sides: meting sea ice caused by global warming, drilling for oil and gas, bio-accumulation of toxins, possible increased shipping traffic.

IPS says that “Melting sea ice caused by climate change and government inaction is putting polar bears at extreme risk in Canada as a species over the next 50 years, according to local environmental groups.

In northern Canada and Alaska, drilling for potential oil and gas is also drawing criticism from civil society organisations.

Rachel Plotkin, a biodiversity policy analyst with the David Suzuki Foundation, told IPS, “The main threat is the melting of sea ice which affects the hunting and mating of polar bears. The sea ice is melting faster than it was ever imagined. In the long term, the viability of the species is uncertain.”

Two-thirds of the world’s polar bears are in Canada, she noted. ”

Full story in IPS.

Photo from Telegraph.co.uk