From Patagonia.com

This is an email I just received from Patagonia.
From Sea to Rising Sea
Across the country and around the globe, concern about global warming is on the rise. Research shows that polar bears must swim farther than ever to find food because Arctic ice is melting at an accelerated rate. The longer swims are even causing some bears to drown. While the issue may feel as vast as the rising seas, making a difference depends on individuals taking action one by one. If you’re concerned about the effects of climate change, we invite you to join the Stop Global Warming Virtual March. The March is a non-political effort to bring all Americans together in one place – proving there is a vast consensus that global warming is here now and it’s time for our country to start addressing the problem. Nearly 4,000 friends of Patagonia have already joined the March. For those already signed up, we thank you. Please spread the word and forward this email so your friends can follow your lead. If you haven’t joined the 400,000+ marchers yet, the time is now. Learn more and join the Stop Global Warming Virtual March Following is an excerpt from the IUCN (The World Conservation Union). This is the organization that puts out the 'Red List', commonly referred to as the endangered species list. Polar Bears have recently recieved the vulnerable slot in the threatened species catagory. This means Polar bears face a "high risk of extintion in the wild." Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) are set to become one of the most notable casualties of global warming. The impact of climate change is increasingly felt in polar regions, where summer sea ice is expected to decrease by 50-100% over the next 50-100 years. Dependent upon Arctic ice-floes for hunting seals and highly specialized for life in the Arctic marine environment, polar bears are predicted to suffer more than a 30% population decline in the next 45 years. Previously listed by IUCN as a conservation dependent species, the polar bear moves into the threatened categories and has been classified as Vulnerable. (Clarifications on the IUCN Red List threat categories can be found in the Notes to Editors). This is taken directly from www.iucn.org. ---According the article, "Experts Predict Polar Bear Decline" published Thursday, July 7, 2005 in the Washington Post written by Blaine Harden, Polar bear numbers are now in the range of 2o,ooo to 25,000. A 30% decline in this number is expected in the next 35 to 50 years. I'm no mathmetician, but that leaves us with 14,000 to 17,500 bears in less than half a century. That may not sound like much of a problem to some people, but look at it this way. With their habitat already shrinking (causing their population decline, and that alone is going to eventually do them in) factor in some sort of epidemic that takes its toll on the bears. Then, add the fact that some bears are drowning in the search of ice to hitch a ride on. On top of that, they happen to live in a major shipping area, so let's run a tanker into an iceberg and spill oil on the already diminishing habitat. Even if the spill doesn't directly kill a bear, their food supply will be lessened by the pollution. Now how many bears are we left with? Let's hope they are an equally divided group of breeding age males and females. Remember, Polar bear cubs stay with mommy for two years and she only has one or two. Extinction occurs when a series of events like this happen, thus leaving only a few females and a bunch of males (or vice versa). The few females that are breeding are nearing their barren years and end up having a bunch of male babies. Doesn't do a population a whole lotta good, huh? Granted this is all hypothetical, but it has happened before. My appologies to David Quammen for using his model of explaining population decline and extinction. Fair winds and following seas, Polar bears.