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National Geographic: One of the animal species most vulnerable to global warming may prove to be the polar bear. Despite being perhaps the largest and most formidable bears in the world, polar bears have evolved to inhabit a fairly narrow ecological niche. They spend most of their time on sea ice, hunting their staple food—seals. Because the ice is shrinking due to global warming, however, the bears are spending more time on land, living off their fat reserves. As a result, polar bears in the Hudson Bay area, for example, are about 60 pounds lighter now than they were 30 years ago—and give birth to smaller cubs. If nothing changes, two-thirds of all polar bears will be gone by 2050—and they may be extinct in the wild by the end of the century, according to Steven Amstrup of Polar Bears International.
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Polar bears may be among first victims of climate change Free
26 November 2013