No climate emergency for polar bears or walrus means no climate emergency period

Reposted from Polar Bear Science

Posted on September 23, 2019 |

We are told the Arctic is warming twice as fast as anywhere else in the world, yet as the internet reverberates with shrill, almost-the-lowest-ice-extent-ever stories, polar bears, Pacific walrus, and the most common ice seal species (ringed and bearded seals, as well as harp seals), are all thriving.  Two new videos published by the GWPF on polar bears and walrus confront this conundrum and the conclusion is clear: if there is no climate emergency for polar bears, there is no climate emergency anywhere.

Polar bears have survived several periods of less ice than there is now as well as periods with more ice. Most ice seal species and walrus, which have existed in the Arctic much longer than polar bears, have lived through many of these extreme sea ice cycles. The low ice extent this year – whether it ends up being second-lowest or third-lowest since 1979 – is merely a blip compared to what these species have experienced during the Pleistocene.

This new video explains that polar bears are important ecosystem indicators that are taking reduced summer sea ice in their stride. My new book, The Polar Bear Catastrophe That Never Happened, explains why this has caught polar bear specialists off guard.

Moreover – as this new video shows – dozens of walrus falling to their deaths from high Arctic cliffs and large herds of walrus hauled out on Arctic beaches are natural events – not tragedies caused by global warming. Pacific walrus are not threatened with extinction because of reduced summer sea ice.

I can only conclude that if there is no climate emergency in the Arctic for these critical species, there cannot be a climate emergency anywhere.

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The press release from GWPF below included links to the two videos.

Press Release: No Climate Emergency For Polar Bears Or Walruses

Critical indicator species like polar bears, ice seals, and walruses are thriving

London, 23 September: Despite the Arctic warming twice as fast as anywhere else in the world, critical indicator species like polar bears, ice seals, and walruses are thriving.

In two new recently-released GWPF videos, Dr. Susan Crockford, a Canadian wildlife expert, explains why Arctic marine mammal species are flourishing despite declining summer sea ice.

“The Truth about Attenborough’s Falling Walrus” provides evidence from US government biologists in the 1990s that walrus deaths due to falls from cliffs are natural events not cause by declines in summer sea ice blamed on rising CO2. Over-crowding is often the primary cause. Moreover, a comprehensive assessment by the US Fish and Wildlife Service determined in late 2017 that walrus in the Chukchi Sea were not threatened with extinction by lack of ice, despite claims to the contrary made earlier this year by Sir David Attenborough in a highly-publicized Netflix/World Wildlife Fund documentary.

“No Climate Emergency for Polar Bears” is a graphic reminder that polar bears, walrus and Arctic seals have survived through periods of much less ice than has existed in the Arctic since 2007 during their evolutionary history. The fact that polar bears especially are doing so well despite almost 50% less summer ice than existed in the 1980s is strong evidence they possess a natural ability to adapt quickly to extreme sea ice changes that predictive models have failed to appreciate.

Dr. Crockford explains that emaciated polar bears – along with dozens of bears onshore at garbage dumps or bears that fatally attack people – are not evidence of climate change. In fact, overall polar bears have been doing very well in a warmer world and this year has been no exception.

“Polar bears, walrus, and ice seals are important ecosystem indicators. However, contrary to prevailing rhetoric, these species have been taking reduced summer sea ice in their stride. I can only conclude that if there is no climate emergency in the Arctic, which is said to be warming twice as fast as anywhere else in the world, there cannot be a climate emergency anywhere,” Dr Crockford said.