Greenhouse gas emissions and global warming have been issues for centuries. This not only affects us as humans but in recent studies, it is affecting the polar bear population drastically. This is something that not enough people are taking seriously. Just because the issue of the polar bear population decreasing doesn’t affect us directly, it is still something that needs to be addressed before it is too late. Recent studies reported by The Guardian show that “all populations of polar bears will be wiped out by 2100 if this level of global warming continues”. Now that may seem far in the future but it will creep up in an instant.

Polar bears rely on sea ice to hunt and capture their food. According to World Wildlife, we lose Arctic sea ice at a rate of 13% and it has been reported that the thickest sea ice today has been reduced by around 95% because of global warming and greenhouse emissions. At this rate polar bears will eventually have little to no sea ice to hunt from, resulting in starvation, and ultimately extinction. Polar bear numbers have decreased to almost 50% in Alaska and around 30% in areas of Canada already, and it isn’t slowing down. Not only is global warming affecting polar bears’ habitats, but it is also affecting themselves. A study by Nature Climate Change projects that polar bears may face reproductive issues by 2040, resulting in the inability to maintain a population.

Many people talk about how bad global warming is and all the negative effects of it but never do anything different within their own lifestyle to contribute to making a change. It is not as hard as it may seem, everything helps no matter how small. Some ways you can help is by riding your bike or walking rather than driving if the distance is doable, replace your light bulbs with LED bulbs that are more efficient, turning off lights when walking out of rooms, and recycling! These simple steps will drastically reduce global warming and the melting of sea ice which will save the polar bear population from extinction. We all need to be in this together!