Nine polar bears at risk of drowning in global warming meltdown

[krkaufman]

Source: Telegraph (UK)

Last Updated: 12:01am BST 30/08/2008

Nine polar bears are at risk of drowning after the ice floe where they lived melted because of global warming, scientists have said.

The bears were spotted in open ocean off the northwest coast of Alaska, miles from their normal hunting area by US government oil survey scientists flying over the Chukchi sea.

Although land was initially only 60 miles away from the bears' former home, they were driven north by their homing instinct towards the edge of the Arctic ice shelf.

Polar bears are renowned as strong swimmers but the 'lost' bears now face an epic 400-mile swim back to shore.

Read more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/08/30/eapolar130.xml

[Whoa_Nelly]

1. pssst! Palin hates polar bears...

Governor Sarah Palin - Polar Bear Lawsuit by State of Alaska
Anchorage Daily News / August 4, 2008

So Palin once again bows to the Alaska Outdoors Council which is so worried it might not have enough Alaskan wildlife to kill for trophies, eh? The federal biologists have shown the polar bears are in trouble. Alaska state biologists have warned they are in trouble. Even the Natives along the Northern Coastal Plain have noted how things are getting worse for the polar bears.

But, like Palin, there are commenters in this discussion who are willing to sell Alaska down the drain for a few oil-soaked dollars. I can see the true VECO mentality (?) is alive and well and can be found here in their comments.

Palin allows airborne killing of wolves and bears, wants polar bears to remain huntable for trophies, and has generally shown she is even worse than Murkowski could ever have been when it comes to selling out our wildlife to the highest bidder.




http://www.akwildlife.org/content/view/116/61

[krkaufman]

8. More on Palin, including documented lies to the Alaskan public

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x6824320

[Whoa_Nelly]

14. Palin. Worst. Polar. Bear. Hater. Ever.

What else is she capable of hating....

[Stern21]

38. Palin and the plight of bears in AK video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ10aWqGTSY

http://www.grizzlybay.org/KatmaiPreserve.html

[cosmicdot]

48. Alaska (Palin) sues over listing of polar bear as threatened

Alaska sues over listing of polar bear as threatened

The Associated Press

Published: August 5, 2008
Last Modified: August 5, 2008 at 12:54 AM

The State of Alaska sued Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne on Monday,
seeking to reverse his decision to list polar bears as a threatened
species under the Endangered Species Act.

Gov. SARAH PALIN and other Alaska elected officials fear a listing
will cripple offshore OIL AND GAS development in the Chukchi and
Beaufort seas off the state's northern border, the same waters that
provide prime habitat for the only polar bears under U.S. jurisdiction.

"We believe that the service's decision to list the polar bear was not
based on the best scientific and commercial data available," Palin
said in announcing the lawsuit.

~snip~

The lawsuit contends federal officials did not consider the best
scientific evidence demonstrating bears ability to survive and adapt
changing climate conditions.

http://dwb.adn.com/news/alaska/story/9938229p-9858036c.html

[EV_Ares]

2. Man, almost wish I hadn't read that. I mean, I guess they have not been able to figure out

anything you can do in these situations as they certainly would if there was. Hard to think about.

[skooooo]

4. I avoid all stories about animals suffering.

I just can't handle it. This was a rare occasion for me to click on the headline.

I can't help them, so me knowing about it doesn't do me or them any good.

[EV_Ares]

5. Yeah, I do what I can but I am like you, its hard to watch, eom.

[lonestarnot]

3. How very sad.

:(

[a la izquierda]

6. I also have know clue why I read this.

Poor things.

[parabellumklr]

7. Its called

NATURE. Its the way things happen. In the big scheme of things it wasn't that long ago when North America was in an Ice Ace. Things changed, ice melted, wolley mammoths died, and the world went on turning. Its nature, baby.

[harmonicon]

11. then is murder just "nature" too?

Some guy kills some other guy, the world keeps on turning, so why bother trying to do anything about it, huh?

[krkaufman]

16. More specifically, it's called extinction.

Think of the polar bears as huge, furry, adorable, deadly canaries.

Catch ya later, T-Rex.

[Turn CO Blue]

21. This post doesn't pass the sniff test. Sorry.

[Wednesdays]

23. So, I guess if you were living on the coast of Louisiana right now

you'd just go about your merry way. After all, hurricanes are just part of nature...and gee, that's just the breaks if something happens to you or one of your relatives.

[leftrightwingnut]

39. So, it's "NATURAL" to pump all the buried carbon into the atmosphere...

change the climate and push most of earthly life as we know it into extinction?

[leftrightwingnut]

40. Human beings are on your extinction list. Is that okay with you?

I don't want to kill my two beautiful sons. Personally, I'd like to leave a decent place for them and their children to live in.

[NeoConsSuck]

41. Palin, is that you?

welcome to DU, freeptard.

[leftrightwingnut]

42. Oh, crap! I'm talking to a tombstone! LOL!

:blush: And I'm just getting wound up for some really good rants. Guess I'll take it over to FR... :evilgrin:

[Mind_your_head]

9. This may be a stupid suggestion, but

since they have been spotted, can't the people put some kind of platform or something out there for them to rest on? Perhaps following them - at a distance - and put the platform out there for them to rest on from time-to-time? :shrug:

[GoddessOfGuinness]

17. Seems like...

But I guess that might interfere with the boat traffic that is now so happy to have a Northwest Passage.

[Mind_your_head]

18. I bet these 9-10 bears could be saved if we tried - even JUST A LITTLE....

When I read stories of the Aussies saving beached whales, etc. .... and the EXTRAORDINARY lengths that some people go to save distressed creatures of our planet .... and we in America do nothing other than to wring our hands over these 9-10 bears who have banded together and will DIE OF EXHAUSTION, unless someone steps in and offers them some sort of relief! I hope we can at least make an ATTEMPT at saving these beautiful creatures.

I'm not 'there', but if I was, I would at least TRY. I've done my part with animals that have 'crossed my path'. For example, I saved a little drowning mouse that fell down a sewer grate by wrapping a rope around an old hockey stick. The little mouse climbed up the hockey stick like the little ladder that it had now become.....

(and their are other examples, not to pat myself on the back, just saying to the people who are there/observing TRY TO DO SOMETHING!) I hope those bears can be saved!

Peace,
M_Y_H

[GoddessOfGuinness]

19. I like your platform idea...

Maybe you should contact Defenders of Wildlife or Sierra Club or somesuch, and suggest it. Lord knows there're enough plastic grocery bags floating around on the surface of the ocean that could be used to help keep a platform afloat...

[AlphaCentauri]

22. Are they too heavy to lift them with a military helicopter?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-493056/Rangers-net-couple-polar-bears-dramatic-animal-rescue.html

[GoddessOfGuinness]

25. That was my first thought, but

I wonder if they're concerned about injury to the bears. Might be dangerous for choppers, too, if they started thrashing around.

Seems like it's worked before, though, so maybe not.

[EFerrari]

24. You'd think the Navy or the Park Service would have a platform

they could put up fast and easily.

Are the bears going in the wrong direction?

I hate this story. :(

[GoddessOfGuinness]

27. Of course, there's a lot of ocean for them to drift aimlessly in...

It could be that there'd be little hope of finding a platform where there were always substantial ice flows.

I'm not sure what drives the critters to swim, except for the fact that there's always been ice to land and hunt on before.

I wonder how seals are faring...

[EFerrari]

28. If the thing was baited, they'd find it. They're probably hungry, too.

I can't believe we're just going to let these creatures die and probably, become extinct.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

29. These particular bears need immediate help...

All I can suggest is to contact and monetarily support groups such as Greenpeace: http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/
and IFAW: http://www.ifaw.org/ifaw/general/default.aspx?oid=3
which seems to be actively involved in such rescue operations.

For the long-term goals of reducing global warming and protecting the species, organizations like NRDC: http://www.nrdc.org/
and Defenders of Wildlife: http://www.defenders.org/index.php do a lot to educate people and lobby for common sense with regard to the environment. I always adopt animals to give to the young members of our family as holiday gifts. They get a stuffed buddy and an adoption certificate, and hopefully an understanding that the gift is much more than a toy, it's a promise to do everything possible to keep these endangered species from going extinct.

[Mind_your_head]

30. Kick - We CAN save them......we have the knowledge and the wherewithall......

Let's 'do it'!

How can/what can *I* personally do to help?

Write/call? What? Go out on the chopper? What?

[EFerrari]

31. This person may know something -- contact for World Wide Fund for Nature

regarding these bears:

[e-mail]

[Mind_your_head]

34. I emailed - it was "undeliverable"

thank you though :-)

[EFerrari]

35. Darn it. This is the page where I found it:

http://www.worldwildlife.org/who/media/press/2008/WWFPresitem9878.html

[AlphaCentauri]

46. Try www.ifaw.org

[leftrightwingnut]

43. Towing a large platform in the area might do the trick.

Kind of like an artificial floe. The bears could get on. Then it could be towed near a shore. Trying to sedate each animal would take too long and be too expensive and dangerous for both humans and bears. (I wouldn't want them on my boat!)

But then what? Then there is next season and the next and the next. And where will we put all of the bears? And how will we feed them?

It may be far too little help and far too late, I fear.

[orleans]

26. why can't we RESCUE them??? n/t

[EFerrari]

32. The article says if these 9 have been spotted, there's likely more

in the same situation.

[orleans]

33. that is sooo sad. so sad. n/t

[No Elephants]

44. Amazing how many Democrats here sound on this issue like Gingrich did ten years ago.

[leftrightwingnut]

45. Not a bad idea.

See post http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3460684&mesg_id=3461125">43. Should have replied to you...

[corporatemedia]

10. Just air drop some Coca Cola. They'll die happy. n/t

[go west young man]

12. Additional info:

http://www.efluxmedia.com/news_Ten_Polar_Bears_Spotted_Swimming_60_Miles_From_Alaska_Shore_22822.html

[GoddessOfGuinness]

20. I wonder how many polar bears Palin has encountered.

Too few, I'm thinkin'.

[robinlynne]

47. She has them all over her walls, as do her parents. SHe is opening up Alaska to

a big safari corporation to bring in hunters to shoot wildlife. Right now they are shooting wolves from helicopters for sport.

[antisoros]

13. Save Them, Dammit

There are still some safe places for Polar Bears. We have to do what we need to do to move them there.

[valerief]

15. Missus "Barbrady" Palin, a leader they tell us, says, "Move along, people.

Nothing to see here."
:crazy:

[UndertheOcean]

36. We are not helping the broken lifes on our streets , I won't hold my breath those bears will get any

help

[liberal N proud]

37. And Palin will cheer their death