Are Polar Bears Really Going Extinct?

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Are we going to lose polar bears? ... and more, explained!
I'm a skeptic. I know conservation orgs preach that we're going to lose polar bears if we don't get global climate change under control. But, what do we know with the polar bear. To really figure it out, we need to learn how the polar bear deals with life. That's why we made this video.
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[@deandeann1541]

Maybe it would help to introduce them to antarctica. Plenty of seals there, I am not sure about how accessible the sea ice is for them, but it seems likely that one of the many Antarctic islands could support a colony. Polar bears may eat all the penguin where they overlap, it is hard to tell. But when the polar bears are gone from the arctic, a colony of penguins could be started there. Once again, penguins would probably do best on an arctic island, because it is likely they would not do well with arctic foxes. So on an island the arctic foxes could be removed. So long as there were martens to eat the rodents it would be ok to remove the foxes. If there is not a predator to fill the foxe's niche, martens or weasels may work, as if this comes to pass it means the arctic has warmed quite a lot. Hopefully biological science will advance sufficiently to allow this sort of ecosystem rebalanceing, as it may be needed to limit the damage we are inflicting on the web of life.

[@woooshwooosh2867]

1987 : we will have flying cars in the future. 2018 : Save the polar bears! 2060 : cars and vehicles are illegal

[@iamcleaver6854]

I would not support completely banning cars, but personal vehicles should be made a luxury product.

[@FergusScotchman]

Show ice after 2012. Not really a problem. And there has been an explosion in population. How so without sources of food?

[@Policesamuri77717]

At one time it was so warn that Viking had farms and cattle on Greenland. There are old churches on Greenland that had to. Be abandoned as it got colder.

[@ig2d]

why did the nasa snow cover time lapse stop at 2012?

[@PhilJonesIII]

The video was made around 2015 (posted). 2012 was a warm year but it looks like the ice is coming back. A number of climate-change expeditions have been trapped in the ice they thought wasn't there. There are now over 30,000 polar bears that we know of.

[@j.mariamartin1882]

Any kind of bear is not in danger of extinction?

[@paul_GriyaLestari]

Why didn't the polar bears go extinct during the Medieval Warm Period (temperatures 2 degrees C above present) Greenland used to be green, but that didn't kill all the polar bears!

[@kerryrus]

They lost habitat. Adapt or move north. However temperatures are predicted to rise 6.6°C by 2100 unless we cut our emissions 80% by 2028. If we don't, what we do after won't matter because of cascading effects...Heat causes water vapor, water vapor causes heat, heat causes methane, methane cause heat, heat melts ice, ice loss causes heat, heat cause more CO2, then it's too late. It isn't polar bears it's humans. Polar bears are the canary in the coal mine.

[@kerryrus]

Sorry, A few year ago, they were predicting (up to worst case scenario) 6.6°C. Since there was a 18 year hiatus the computer models have been modified and are now predicting a worst case scenario of 3°C and a best case scenario of 1°C above preindustrial levels. I saw an activist with a 6°C poster. But you are right, nobody is predicting 6°C anymore. You are right, I was wrong. I checked. Sorry for the misinformation. I guess the polar bears are safe for now.

[@kerryrus]

"wobleibtdieglobaleerwaermung.wordpress.com/2018/03/11/ueberraschung-in-der-arktis-meereis-waechst-noch-weiter-ard-mit-fake-hitzewelle-in-der-arktis/" Can't read German but one of the links said the Arctic Ice retreats every 70 years for some reason. 1870, 1940, 2010 Interesting

[@kerryrus]

I read about polar bears, lots of opinions. I read some populations are growing. I no longer believe the polar bears are going extinct. I believe it was a ploy to bring attention to the climate change cause. I saw a documentary about a polar bear community that summers in James Bay. There is no ice in James Bay in summer, yet they survive anyway. I think man has some influence on climate. But I don't think Southern Florida will disappear in 80 years from now either. I am not impressed by all the predictions of doom that have not happened. Anything man can do pales in comparison to the sun. I realize that. I also read the main reason they are doing so well is hunting seasons instead of unlimited hunting. Nothing to do with ice or lack of ice. So limited hunting season have more to do with survival of Polar Bears than climate. I support limited hunting seasons and wildlife refuges where no hunting is allowed. Take care. Richard Cowley ... I will worry about something else besides the future of Polar Bears.

[@Vysair]

Kerry Russell Carbon coefficient tax.

[@Fielatoystory]

it is very interesting to me thanks your work will pay off

[@NeilsIn]

Oh hey! I came here after seeing your latest video. I'm outstanded by the amount of the negative comments. Truly remarkable! :D I'm glad their world is on such an even keel. :P Rob, great video, as always, I find it interesting that you don't suggest we all try and stop global warming (obvious impossibility), however interesting to watch and informative as usual. Great work!

[@Gustav_Kuriga]

The reason people are upset is because Polar Bear populations have been growing, and they have adapted to living on land where needed. The latter something that contradicts what he says.

[@Irvingstine]

There numbers have increased so much there now moving into north Ontario Alberta and BC. There is 30000 plus and growing that number has almost doubled since 1970s

[@chomps163]

polar bears in bc? what the fuck are you on about. prove it.

[@pastramichop]

awesome videos.

[@craigparker4108]

More Co2, less ice atm & growing polar bear numbers. That tells us MSM & pseudo science is full of it.

[@BarryDennis]

Polar bears have increased since Al Hoar's inconvenient TOOT!

[@eLouaiVideos]

It is factually correct. Most scientific estimates are now OVER 30,000 polar bears (on average) taking the averages of the 19 subpopulations that they are calculated from. I am assuming you are referencing the 26,000 number from the 2015 IUCN Red List assessment, which most say are too low. Even the paper you cite by Susan Crockford is pushing to have the polar bears REMOVED from the endangered species list since they are no longer under threat of extinction and have recovered very nicely ever since the 1973 ban on sport hunting the bears. Out of the 19 subpopulations only ONE region suffered a net loss in population and that was because the ICE sheet was TOO thick for the seals (I think it was for the year 2016)

[@tednugent8210]

eLouai inuits can get tags for 5 kills this year because their over running the villages.

[@abelsaenz5401]

Love the video on Polar Bears

[@buakaw]

Good video

[@mikebecket7458]

He'll no they are not and I'm FROM ALASKA

[@cadinstcyr1374]

Ok bud

[@JenniferThorne]

How do you explain the increased numbers of polar bears since 2010. In 2017 their numbers are estimated at 28,500. Their numbers were estimated to be 24,000 in 2010. There is more to this than you are saying.

[@johnshewchuk4182]

You are correct. This video is pure propaganda. Here is the truth ... kzbin.info/www/bejne/nIW7e6ioasmNg80

[@carmenlombardi5181]

they live in zoo in Chicago with a pool of water.

[@carmenlombardi5181]

more food going farther north.

[@peasantsarerevolting9343]

There's more polar bears now than 20 years ago. The Arctic wasn't always covered with ice, during the time when Stonehenge was built you could navigate a boat across the Arctic. At one point Vikings grew crops on both Greenland and Iceland. life was harder for polar bears during the last ice age. If polar bears can't catch seals, they can eat documentary crews.... or oilfield workers of the North Slope.

[@L8rCloud]

Is it worth creating seal traps to tip the balance in their favor, at least until the situation changes? What's the situation with the seal population, is it increasing because polar bears aren't able to successfully hunt them anymore?

[@Gustav_Kuriga]

Polar Bears, as a species, don't need to solely hunt seals. Individuals that have only been taught to hunt seals will die off, but those that have been taught by their mothers to hunt other things on land will survive.

[@mariiaville7784]

Yess they are!

[@dmeads5663]

Could we move them to Antarctica?

[@kerryrus]

They would become an invasive species.

[@ibizanhound7891]

kerry russell Who gives a fuck

[@Svallen675]

@@ibizanhound7891 People who have a brain. Penguins would be a new source of food. We could then be responsible for putting penguins at risk of extinction. Not to mention the cost of moving polar bears to the opposite side of the planet would be insane.

[@Svallen675]

@Lil Bruh Im not judging Polar Bears. We have moved species to different locations before and it has been mostly disastrous. Check out polar bears international, this question was asked already.

[@bluewolf5895]

Dmeads 56 they could be moved to Canada, a large amount of them already live there

[@Jonathan-ou3jb]

😞

[@oldmanvollox7793]

hunting permits are about 1300 in 2021

[@addictedtominisandlovingit3912]

Transplant the bears to Antarctica ;)

[@makaalburn7496]

I love science ❤ This makes my Report Way better with an A+

[@diannepenny407]

I'm confused. I thought that in the 60s, there were only 6000 polar bears left. But that now, there are upwards of 26,000. How is that 'heading towards extinction'?

[@UntamedScience]

Hey Dianne. I'm going to have to let the polar bear biologists hit on those numbers specifically. I think one thing people confuse is the different pressures bears face. It's true, we nearly destroyed the polar bear because of over-hunting. That would have sucked. We did succeed doing that with many of the large animals in N.America. Fortunately we put heavy regulations on hunting bears (almost stopping hunting). Now, the threat is very different. It's a habitat loss thing. They won't go extinct in our lifetime, even if activists want to make you think it. But we can't ignore the fact that there is a very real threat to their populations. If at least we know, that's something. Hope this didn't seem like propaganda. Just trying to present some interesting facts. - R

[@diannepenny407]

@@UntamedScience Many thanks for your detailed response! I am still confused as to why the population is thriving, however - continuing to grow, 'in spite' of the current changes. The evidence and the theory seem to be in contradiction here! I've come across Dr Susan Crockford on KZbin, who has studied polar bear populations for 35 years. She seems convinced there is an 'upward trend' in this regard, with numbers now ranging between 26,000 and 59,000! I hope she's right, of course...

[@UntamedScience]

@@diannepenny407 Well, all this needs be taken in context. It might be hard to generalize with, are polar bears increasing or decreasing. Humans are the same. In Sweden, populations aren't growing, but in South Africa, populations are exploding. Polar bears are the same. At the 2014 meeting of the PBSG, the world's leading polar bear scientists reported that of the 19 subpopulations of polar bears, three were declining, six were stable, and one was increasing. They lacked sufficient data on the status of the remaining nine.

[@UntamedScience]

@@diannepenny407 with climate change we'd expect that. Ice isn't gone yet. We'd expect areas where ice is decreasing to loose polar bears. Other areas might get more favorable ice (they need holes in the ice). Point is it's not a simple answer, even if people like to make it that.

[@mrfox457]

You could look up where the 6000 number comes from. If you research it you will find that the number is hugely inaccurate. They very little information in the 60's, and they just started to understand how to track the population. Yes the number has increased after hunting became illegal, but how much from 1960's is unknown.

[@outlander5706]

This is good for a projet

[@TheBigRed.]

Polar bear population increasing. The End

[@mak9595]

If your TRULY want to help manage and conserve Polar Bears, stop giving money to these southern orgs. Contact the northern people that have a better understanding of these animals. Like the the Inuvialuit Game Council or the WWF. The WWF are people that visit(and building relationships) with all the communities with PB populations. Not just one place with a small population and high tourist rate.

[@Gustav_Kuriga]

Except that scientific studies HAVE shown the polar bears changing diet. For an "Untamed Science" channel, you sure think inside the box.

[@endert69420]

well uhhh yes

[@ParvatiParameswaram]

How many species u want to adapt , that too super quick..! Well maybe they'll all force some wierd n drastic adaptations on Mankind.. period..!

[@Doc.Holiday]

Just send sea-planes loaded with bleeding hearts up there to pet them…. Easy fix.

[@davidwheatcroft2797]

6 times more polar bears today compared to 1950. GW alarmists are unable to understand basics, like the Medieval Warm Period. GW has become a religion. Not a SINGLE bad thing from GW NOW. All is, "Blah, blah 2050, 2100.....sky falling...."

[@UntamedScience]

Well, I understand how you'd want to correlate the increase in polar bears since the 50's and a BS GW argument. However, the two are likely slightly different issues. Much of the increase in polar bears is now due to a lack of human hunters. However, the polar bears still need sea-ice to survive. That's what people are concerned about. There is no real debate that the ice is declining. What we're not sure of is exactly how this will effect the polar bear populations.

[@kerryrus]

David: Not a single bad thing about climate warming? The Bramble Cay mosaic-tailed rat that lived on a coral reef the size of a football field of the coast of Australia, got flooded during a storm surge. Extinct. The storm surge was caused by climate change because everything bad from weather to disease is cause by climate change.

[@kerryrus]

Untamed Science: The video shows the Ice melting up to 2012, but it has come back since. It has come back to normal range. Within 1 standard deviation of average. Normal range is usually considered within 2 standard deviations. Polar bears made it through 2012, so it shows they can survive at 2012 levels. Actually 2017 - was the 12th highest summer ice on record.

[@JuicyPolarBear]

noooooooooooooo not me

[@thegamerdragon5767]

Your my favorite animal besides turtle

[@azulrivadeneyra5437]

:(waaa:(

[@graceneff6846]

With so many of our elected politicians putting climate change on the back burner I fear for their survival.

[@WiredforThought]

Well, people only care for profit. More money requires more pollution. I just hope someone could get in the way of those people, before it's to late.

[@UntamedScience]

Potentially. I think the decision all comes down to politics. You can't convince every single person in the world to just "care" - but with a few laws, change can happen.

[@Peng_Pong]

Polar bear and black bear Equals panda

[@TheFartbreakKid]

Do we really need polar bears?

[@perrychartrand7389]

Funny that kids are not tought truth in schools 🌎

[@user-wh1dk5ti3s]

unfortunately. they have to look to other sources to find out that the polar bear population has been increasing

[@user-wh1dk5ti3s]

@Ricky Parmar fee.org/articles/the-myth-that-the-polar-bear-population-is-declining/ polarbearsinternational.org/research/research-qa/are-polar-bear-populations-increasing-in-fact-booming/ polarbearscience.com/2017/02/23/global-polar-bear-population-larger-than-previous-thought-almost-30000/

[@stevesigmund6243]

Are you people serious? Since 2005 the polar bear population has increased by an estimated 30%, putting the number at a 50 year high. Dr. Karen Rode did a study evaluating polar bears communities who lived in areas with high ice loss vs areas with low ice loss and found the bears in the high ice loss areas did better in every category then the bears in areas of low ice loss. They were healthier, bigger, and had more Cubs. This video is completely wrong! KZbin is a cool format, but it doesn’t replace doing real research and gaining a true understanding of reality.

[@stever3953]

I have a hard time believing carbon dioxide is bad.

[@loti4809]

#SaveThePolarBears

[@robnelsonfilms]

There you go!

[@Policesamuri77717]

There are not 20,0000 Polar bears. There are now 30,000 polar bears. Many female’s are now having triplets.

[@christopherd6399]

Polar bears are doing great despite a decrease in summer ice. When your science is dependent on a political narrative, you're going to come up with the wrong conclusion every time. As the polar bear experts did, who need a polar bear crisis to increase their funding.

[@destroya3303]

Your videos are obviously grass roots videos that are simply your own personal opinions. I don't smell any astro turf here

[@rabbishlomoshekelberg-rubi6513]

So what if they go extinct? We have brown bears and other types of bear. A bear is a bear. What difference does it make what color it is?

[@kristengrubbs8535]

YOU DON'T KNOW A THING ABOUT ANIMALS YOU WIERDO!

[@destroya3303]

+Kristen Grubbs great argument... **sarcasm**

[@destroya3303]

If they were Jewish bears, we could make Hollywood movies about it and make big $$$$$

[@WessoWess2023]

Rabbi Shlomo Shekelberg-Rubingoldstein ... polar bears are incredibly good for the ecosystem, seels are like rabbits. They reporduce pretty fast. So it's good to keep the habitat in shape. Clearly though you dont cate about that; instead your probably just sitting at home not going outside and trying to do something about it... :P

[@malakaithegamer4051]

Rabbi Shlomo Shekelberg-Rubingoldstein You don't get it do you? They are bears but a different kind and polar bears are very special.

[@markyoung8613]

Try watching "Polar Bears and Climate Change" .......... Then you will know the truth...

[@KenJi-ex9id]

Just fly up in a helicopter and drop down some meat (That was a joke)

[@TheSirsmooth]

No Ice means no ice for the seals either, so they go to land. They are easier to find and hunt without Ice, and there are actually more polar bears today than ever. The Inuit complain because they can't leave their houses because they are surrounded by bears, and there's nothing they can do about it because polar bears are artificially classified as endangered species. LMFAO!

[@rlgmedia5364]

Lost me after watching this video. Same old ecophreak propaganda peddling the same old doomsday bs.