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Polar Bears When I got in touch with Santa this month he was primed and ready to go. I let him. --------------------------0---------------------- A few months ago I said I was more concerned about pollution than I am about weather and the so-called "warming trend." The point is this. Weather trends are reversible. The effects of pollution are not. To illustrate, what is happening to the polar bear, as a result, is not good. Polar bears and I belong to a mutual admiration society. To be on the safe side I admire from a distance. (The bears look on me as a tasty morsel in an area of the world where food is in short supply.) I, on the other hand, look at them as one of the Creator’s more interesting creations. For example, when you realize that a "Mama" polar bear can weigh as much as four to five hundred pounds and a full-grown "Papa" bear can weigh nearly a ton, it is hard to believe that a polar bear cub, at birth, weighs barely a pound. But it does! Or consider their color. Most people think they are white. Well, sorry, they are not. Polar bears have black skin. Black absorbs the sun’s rays and generates the heat that helps keep them warm in sub zero weather. Lighter colors tend to reflect the sun and would reduce their chance of survival. So why do they look like they’re white? Good Question! A polar bears hair is translucent - just like ice. In addition the Individual hairs are hollow. As a result they insulate and reflect light in every direction. This gives the impression that the hair is white. In their world of snow and ice they are perfectly camouflaged. People who study polar bears such as Andy Derocher, know that it is easier to spot a bear’s tracks than it is to spot the bear. You might ask, "If they are so formidable and so perfectly camouflaged why are you worried about them?" It’s a good question, easily answered. To begin with there aren’t very many polar bear and those that remain are being adversely affected by pollution. Experts, such as Andy estimate that roughly 10% of the world’s Polar Bear Population live on or near Svalbard, a Norwegian island that is about 650 miles north of the Artic circle. (That is due south of where I live. Of course everything on earth is south of my home.) Since they estimate that there are only 2.000 bears in that area it could mean that the entire world population is only 20,000 bears. That is not a lot of bears Then there is the problem of banned pollutants such as PCBs that don’t go away. "In a phenomenon that scientists call the grasshopper effect, PCBs from say, a discarded transformer on the Eastern Seaboard can repeatedly evaporate in warm weather, ride the wind and fall to the ground until they’ve hopscotched to the Arctic where they land on snowfields and in frigid seas and are trapped." The polar bear, being at the top of the food chain, consumes heavy concentrations of this pollutant. It is threatening their existence. The death rate among cubs appears to be rising and there is evidence that the bear’s immune systems are being affected. It’s a troublesome situation and not a lot can be done about it. -----------------------0--------------------- I hated to see Santa so concerned. But in truth there is nothing we can do about situations such as this other than be aware of how our actions impact the world and try to be more careful in the future. Until next month ---- Santa’s Friend
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