CNN: Polar bears in Norway’s Arctic are getting fatter and healthier, despite melting sea icehttps://t.co/l02umyFido pic.twitter.com/08YjYqIqRU
— Marc Morano (@ClimateDepot) February 1, 2026
https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/30/climate/polar-bears-fatter-norway-arctic-intl-scli
CNN excerpt:
Wild animals’ body condition usually gives early warning signs about the impact of environmental changes on their populations, according to the study.
Looking at the 27-year period between 1992 and 2019, they compared 1,188 body measurement records relating to 770 adult polar bears taken on Svalbard, a Norwegian-owned archipelago in the Barents Sea, with the number of ice-free days in the region.
The number of days the polar bears had to go without ice increased by approximately 100 days over that time period. Yet, after an initial decline in their body condition from 1995 to 2000, they actually became fatter and fitter in the two decades that followed.
…
“The most likely explanation is that polar bears in Svalbard have so far been able to compensate for reduced access to sea ice by exploiting alternative foraging opportunities and by showing considerable ecological flexibility,” lead study author Jon Aars, a population geneticist and a senior researcher at the Norwegian Polar Institute, told CNN on Friday.
“In this region, bears have access (to) reindeer and eggs on land, walrus carcasses, and also harbour seals,” he continued.
