Lots of questions about that “starved” 16-year-old polar bear
http://tomnelson.blogspot.com/2013/08/lots-of-questions-about-that-16-year.html
If it was healthy in April, can we just assume “from its lying position” that CO2 reduced it to skin and bones by July? What about the admission that “there may have been some underlying disease”–did anyone actually check? What did its teeth look like? How big a factor was old age? If pregnant female polar bears in Hudson Bay can fast for up to 8 months, how did CO2 cause this particular bear to starve so quickly?After Ian Stirling found the animal dead in July, how did global warming activist photographer Ashley Cooper end up at the scene? What was the process of hyping this dead bear to the media? Didn’t thousands of polar bears end up looking like this well before the invention of the internal combustion engine?Starved polar bear perished due to record sea-ice melt, says expert | Environment | The GuardianIce loss due to climate change is “absolutely, categorically and without question” the cause of falling polar bear populations, said Richardson, who cares for the UK’s only publicly kept polar bears. He said 16 years was not particularly old for a wild male polar bear, which usually live into their early 20s [or 15-18, who’s counting?]. “There may have been some underlying disease, but I would be surprised if this was anything other than starvation,” he said. “Once polar bears reach adulthood they are normally nigh on indestructible, they are hard as nails.” A victim of climate change? Polar bear found starved to death looked ‘like a rug’ – World NewsIan Stirling, who has studied polar bears for nearly 40 years, told The Guardian newspaper that he found the animal on Svalbard in July. “From his lying position in death the bear appears to simply have starved and died where he dropped,” Stirling said. “He had no external suggestion of any remaining fat, having been reduced to little more than skin and bone.”The bear was examined by Norwegian scientists in April about 150 miles south and seemed to be healthy at that time…Ashley Cooper, the photographer who took the picture, said the sight of the dead polar bear was “desperately sad.”…Cooper said the fate of the bear was “what [all] polar bears have got to look forward to over the next 10 to 20 years.”“There isn’t a future for them unless we can very rapidly get on top of climate change,” he said….Ashley Cooper / Global Warming ImagesThe bear is thought to have been heading north in a desperate search for sea ice that would allow it to hunt for seals. Scientists believe the Arctic could be essentially free of sea ice in September by 2054. [So why will all polar bears starve within 20 years from now?]Actionbioscience | Polar Bears and Climate ChangePregnant female polar bears in Hudson Bay can fast for up to 8 monthsGlobal Warming Images | Ashley Cooper’s websiteAshley Cooper has always been passionate about the environment and in recent years Global Warming, the affects of which he has been documenting for the last 8 years. His trips have taken him to many parts of the world with his particular interest being in capturing images that graphically demonstrate the impact of global warming, on people, places and wildlife.Global Warming Images | Global Warming Pictures | Environmental photo library | Stock photography LibaryGlobal Warming Images applauds the efforts of many organizations and businesses promoting climate change solutions and others who are doing excellent work. Below are some of our favorites.Global Warming Images