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Alan Crum
Mrs. Harrell
English 4 Honors
October 30, 2014
Polar Threat
Polar bears are the kings of the artic. They are the top predator in this region of the world.
These incredible beings are facing a serious threat that they are not used to. Human activity is
one of the main threats to polar bears lives and most of them do not even know what is going on.
It is not a direct attack on polar bears from humans. Everything that is happening to the polar
bears habitat is because of the things humans use in everyday life which is affecting the artic
regions indirectly. The things humans do to survive and live life alter the lives of other animals
in the world and most humans do not realize what they are doing on a larger scale of the world.
Most only see the little picture. People are the biggest problem when it comes down to the polar
bear depletion. Due to human interference, polar bears habitats are depleting because of the
increase in polar temperatures that are causing their environment to melt.
A major problem polar bears are facing is the increase is polar temperatures which is
causing the ice to melt. With the melting of the ice, polar bears are continuing to lose their
environment and homes. If sea ice continues to melt at its current rate, two-thirds of the world's
20,000 to 25,000 polar bears could disappear by 2050 (Dybas 24). This can become a much
greater problem than it already is for polar bears if nothing is done to help solve this problem.
When the ice melts it creates less living space for the polar bears. In Greenland, locals have
begun to realize the melting of the ice too. On the east coast of Greenland there is an island
called Uunartoq Qeqertaq, or otherwise known as Warming Island, and the people of Greenland

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have had studies showing the ice melting each year. In the summer of 2012 the people of
Uunartoq Qeqertaq attempted satellite overviews hoping the gather data that indicates any kind
of change in the levels of the ice and found out that on July 8 the island was 40% covered with
ice and on July 12 discovered that 97% of that ice had thawed (Dybas 26). The threat is real for
the polar bears. There needs to be some sort of change to help protect the polar bears that are still
left on this planet.
Land is not the only thing lost with the melting of the ice to polar bears. Research is now
beginning to show that the ice is holding chemicals from businesses and factories that was
released into the air. The ice keeps it in a harmless state when frozen in the ice, but once melted,
the toxic chemicals are released into the arctic air. When considering Greenland, which is
836,330 square miles and 80% covered in ice, the pollution starts to add up (Dybas 25). Once
the ice melts the chemicals affect the polar bears health and causes more deaths. As a result of
human everyday living, other animals are getting the effects of all the waste of the aftermath.
With all this ice melting other animals are being effected too. Other animals are hurting
and dying from the melting of the environment and with others slowly falling out of the picture,
where is the food source for the polar bears coming from? Polar bears are now having to travel
greater distances to find their food source and because of these longer swims many polar bears
are starting to die of exhaustion and other causes out in the open water. Although polar bears
are very powerful swimmers, swimming long distances can prove very fatal and burns a lot of
precious fat reserves. Some polar bear cups are swimming up to 427 miles just to get to land
(McGrath 63). Polar bears are going through many harsh challenges with the melting of the ice.
The melting of the ice causes many problems for the polar bears but all comes back to the
fact of global warming. The ice is melting because the planets temperature is rising in the polar

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regions. Global warming is caused by everyday human activities that are used to live life.
Humans are a main cause to the depletion of polar bears and it is humans who have the power to
change the world and save the polar bears. The first step is to start a change. People do not have
to be the cause of the extinction of the polar bear, they can change and become the reason for the
salvation of the polar bear.

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Work Cited
Dybas, Cheryl Lyn. "Ice Bears On The Edge." Natural History 122.1 (2014): 24-37. General
Science Collection. Web. 9 Oct. 2014.
McGrath, Susan. "On Thin Ice." National Geographic 220.1 (2011): 63. General Science
Collection. Web. 9 Oct. 2014.