Mid-December polar bear habitat update

From Polar Bear Science

Dr. Susan Crockford

Compared to last year, polar bear habitat at 15 December 2021 is way up in the Barents and Bering Seas but way down in Hudson Bay but nothing any polar bear has to worry about.

Here’s what the ice charts look like.

Global sea ice

2021 at 15 December (12.1 mkm2):

Last year on the same date (11.7 mkm2):

Graphically, 2021 vs. the last four years (for regions that are not completely iced over):

Sea Ice in Canada

Hudson Bay ice anomaly for the week of 13 December (red is less ice than usual):

Hudson Bay stage of development for the week of 13 December 2021:

Compare above to Hudson Bay ice in 2020 at 15 December:

Last year’s Hudson Bay anomaly for the week of 14 December (blue is more ice than usual):

Chukchi and Bering Seas

This year at 14 December:

Last year at 14 December (2020):

Barents and Kara Seas

This year at 15 December:

Last year at 15 December (2020), which shows the low levels in the Kara Sea as well (upper right):

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rbabcock
December 22, 2021 10:09 am

I would suggest bussing the bears from Hudson Bay to Barrow, AK. Much like we do with all the people crossing the US border into TX. Or wait another week or two as the big polar plunge comes across the North Pole from Siberia and freezes the Bay back to normal. I’m sure Santa is glad Christmas will happen before this.

Reply to  rbabcock
December 22, 2021 12:16 pm

It is 24 hours of night in the arctic now…aren’t these bears supposed to be sleeping?

Rocketscientist
Reply to  Anti-griff
December 22, 2021 12:51 pm

It’s a good thing they’re sleeping too, because Santa’s elves wouldn’t stand a chance against a hungry polar bear.

Sara
Reply to  Anti-griff
December 23, 2021 5:29 am

Naw, they’re out partying under the stars, with Coca-Cola en bouteille, just in case some tourist wants a photo opportunity.

Doug D
December 22, 2021 10:17 am

The whole panic by some over these bears just leaves me cold

Vuk
Reply to  Doug D
December 22, 2021 10:27 am

The polar bears are doing just fine, what leaves me cold is prospect of paying this winter’s gas bill.

John_C
Reply to  Vuk
December 22, 2021 10:44 am

Or perhaps, not paying the bill?

n.n
Reply to  John_C
December 22, 2021 11:06 am

And in the modern model, a visit from the FBI. Bah humbug!

Editor
Reply to  Vuk
December 22, 2021 12:00 pm

You need a hunting expedition Vuk, polar bear skins are very warm

Vuk
Reply to  tonyb
December 22, 2021 12:41 pm

Hi Tony
Indeed they are, especially on alive one, but not for me, not just yetcomment image

joe
Reply to  Vuk
December 23, 2021 6:06 am

a well fed polar bear can be quit friendly no?

Peter W
Reply to  Doug D
December 22, 2021 11:06 am

i am certain a good coat of polar bear fur will warm you up nicely.

Janice Moore
December 22, 2021 10:19 am

Thank you, Dr. Crockford, for your excellent, faithfully posted, clearly presented, polar data. Your crisp, “just the facts,” style is refreshing in the midst of all the warmist slush.

🎇 🎄 MERRY CHRISTMAS, to you and yours. 🎄 🎇

Janice🙂

Jeff Corbin
December 22, 2021 10:33 am

Without Ditka and the Fridge, who cares about the bears.

Paul S
Reply to  Jeff Corbin
December 22, 2021 11:06 am

That would be “Da Bears”

Janice Moore
Reply to  Jeff Corbin
December 22, 2021 12:12 pm

😊

Good ol’ Mike Ditka and William “The Refrigerator” Perry — see nice tribute video here by typing this in the YouTube search box:

“William “The Refrigerator” Perry & the Start of Big Man TDs | NFL Vault Stories”
(video owner refuses to let video play on non-youtube sites 🙁

Vuk
December 22, 2021 11:27 am

White, brown, black?
Arctic polar bears are fat & white, who cares.
Russian brown bears are snarling at the Ukraine
American black bears are timid and shy, let’s go Brandon.
Talking about thing ‘black’, black holes are not black at all, so says the latest research:
Astronomers have produced the most comprehensive image of radio emission from the nearest actively feeding supermassive black hole to Earth, 12 million light years away.
As the black hole feeds on in-falling gas, it ejects material at near light-speed, …
https://phys.org/news/2021-12-astronomers-capture-black-hole-eruption.html
We have been misled by the settled science.
I want my money back.

Sara
Reply to  Vuk
December 23, 2021 5:31 am

You mean, things can escape black holes, after all????? I want my sci-fi money back, too!!!

Bruce Cobb
December 22, 2021 12:23 pm

But, but, but, the WWF said the poley bear’s home is being destroyed by Global Warming, and to send money to save them. Are you saying they are liars?
How dare you!

Richard Page
Reply to  Bruce Cobb
December 22, 2021 2:07 pm

I wouldn’t say they are liars exactly, just very well off with secure employment (for the moment).

Sara
Reply to  Bruce Cobb
December 23, 2021 5:33 am

My mother used to send them money to “save the whales”. Then she saw a photo in one of WWF’s ragazines of the ship they’d bought and it annoyed her. so she stopped sending them money.

Rud Istvan
December 22, 2021 2:07 pm

Like so much else about global warming, the polar bear scare was bad science from people who perhaps DID know better.
Mann’s hockey stick.
Wadhams’ summer sea ice disappearance.
NASA’s lack of sea level rise closure.
PMEL’s Whiskey Creek oyster hatchery alarm.

And then there is provable academic misconduct (all explained in essays in ebook Blowing Smoke):
Marcott’s Science paleoproxy hockey stick (data manipulation)
Fabricius’ Milne Bay corals (data omission)
O’Leary’s Eemian ice shelf collapse (data misrepresentation)

Ireneusz Palmowski
December 23, 2021 2:16 am

Hudson’s Bay is about to freeze over.comment image

Sara
Reply to  Ireneusz Palmowski
December 23, 2021 5:33 am

Ooooohhh!!! Hockey time!!!! Bears on skates chasing pucks!!! Gotta see that!

Bill Rocks
December 23, 2021 7:18 am

Ignoring data and reason, the WWF “save the polar bears because of global warming” fund raising is abundant and prominent on cable TV in the USA at this time.

Must be an excellent money-maker but is dishonest. I cannot support that organization.

Go bears and thank you Dr. Crockford for your good work, keen intellect and courage.