Did you know that polar bears are listed as endangered species now? Maybe many people just know that the North Pole and South Pole are melting because of global warming. Perhaps they might think that it will not be a problem or it doesn’t matter about what is the happening. People often don’t believe we have a problem, before a situation happens, and then they regret the past events. I think that we are reaching a point like that. We may not know whether it will go quickly or not. So I want to give some information about how big a problem the threat to polar bear is. As I say on the first part, polar bears are listed as endangered animals and every year many polar bears are diminishing quickly. The main reason polar bears are decreasing is ice melting because of global warming. According to Polar Bear (n.d.), “Climate change, which is causing the loss of older stable sea ice and the thinning, disappearance and moving offshore of older sea ice, is reducing essential polar bear habitats and is the great threat to their survival” (para 7). It means that polar bears only can depend on thick ice to live. Another reason is human activity; for example, the poaching of bears is one of the factors causing polar bears to decline (Polar Bear Background and Recovery, n.d). The polar bears are one of the important Arctic animals because if they disappeared, the ecosystem would start to break down with other species. Therefore, government and people have to try to protect polar bears with responsibility.
Humans should protect polar bears, because decreasing of polar bears is caused by human’s activity, destruction of environment, and development. The government has to make a regulation, for example reducing carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases. Then people have to fulfill the condition of regulations to preserve polar bear’s habitat, protect polar bears from hunters, and maintain the Arctic’s ecosystem. We should perform the above actions to help and protect them.
First of all, the governments have to work together to make a regulation to reduce greenhouse gases and the use of fossil fuels. Burning fossil fuels and emitting greenhouse gases are influences for global warming; then, it causes polar bears to decrease. The fossil fuels have been used importantly in our society and it brought the industrial revolution; nevertheless, has caused various environmental pollution, and especially contributed to global warming. It caused polar bears’ loss of habitat because of ice melting. In “Global warming threatens millions of species,” Bhattacharya (2004) writes, “Global warming may drive a quarter of land animals and plants to the edge of extinction by 2050” (para 1). It is now and it will proceed more rapidly. Also, the ice melting makes it hard for polar bears to hunt because ice melting restricts their hunting place. According to Science Daily (Wildlife Conservation Society, 2007), “Polar bears rely on seasonal ice for stalking their principal prey. Also, without the ice, the bears generally cannot get anywhere near these fast swimming marine mammals” (para 5). So, the ice melting makes it hard for them to live. Actually, we cannot recover to the previous condition of the sea ice and it is true. We can only accomplish reducing greenhouse gases and developing other renewable resources instead of using fossil fuels. Therefore, the government has to make a regulation for reducing the use of fossil fuels and greenhouse gases, and the scientists need to invent alternative energy resources.
Second, the government should protect polar bears from humans. Human is the largest factor to threaten polar bears. For example, Canada is the only nation to allow polar bear hunting; also, they sell licenses for hunters who want trophies (Stop Polar Bear Hunting, n.d.). It is an unbelievable situation as of threatening the polar bears. Canada has to forbid polar bear hunting. “Because of their long lives and slow reproduction, polar bears rely on high adult survival rates to maintain their numbers” (The Humane Society, para 3). So, polar bear hunting should be prevented. Another main reason from humans is sea pollution. Every year huge amounts of sea dust just get thrown, and it threatens all sea species, because if any level of predator eats a polluted thing, finally the last predator will eat it. So, the last predator can’t avoid the principals of the food chain. Now many sea areas are developed for pumping oil, tourism, and ship’s moving; of course, this includes the North Pole and South Pole. It definitely affects the polar bears population because they depend on only sea ice. These human activities will make sea ice become less stable and destroy the ecosystem. Hence, the government should forbid human’s activity. Especially, the government has to prohibit these by law, to help protect polar bears from hunting, destroying, and polluting.
Third, people have to know and announce the situation threatening the polar bears. Many people may just accept the situation or not, because people only can contact the situation through the newspaper or magazine. So, usually they might take no notice; however, we can announce this by using the media place and we have to. Every day lots of people use the internet or watch television to get information. Using the media is good idea to easily announce something to people; for example, some famous website or advertisements on television. These are open and we can use them. So, we can make a short film or documentary to announce this, and it will work gradually. Also, the broadcasting stations have to allow the advertisements about the situation with global warming threatening the polar bears. If they telecast continually, people may have interest about the situation. And then they may feel it is practical to save them. So, we can collect some donations for study and to rescue polar bears. After many people know and are interested, various enterprises and companies that influence the power in society may support polar bears with sponsorship. Above all it can be announced in the media, because many people are using the media nowadays. Therefore, many various media places have to announce the polar bears’ threatening situation. Also, the announcement should be allowed more than before, and the broadcasting stations have to pass it. It will work and the associations for polar bear with many supporters can help polar bears.
My opponents argue that this extinction debate of the polar bear is a natural cycle. According to Hintermister (2008), “It is silly to predict the demise of the polar bear in 25 years on media-assisted hysteria” (para 3). However, it is not a practical solution. If polar bears disappear, then different species will start to be extinct. Although the author’s opinion is right, how can we ensure this, and how can we just wait with today’s huge change? Because of global warming, the world of countries is facing a strange disaster, fluctuation of temperature, and sea level rising by ice melting. If we just stare after seeing those situations, it will be too late. Nobody can predict the future and we can only prepare for and study it. Therefore, the government and people should try to prevent this situation and protect ourselves from it, or it will continue.
In conclusion, polar bears are endangered due to global warming, which is caused by human activities. There are three ways that we can cope with these problems. To put it another way, the government has to make a regulation to reduce greenhouse gases and use less fossil fuels; the government has to prohibit hunting by law to protect polar bears from hunters, and various media places should announce the polar bears’ threatening situation. As a result, we have to follow the condition of regulation; also, we should keep studying to develop other alternative solutions. Although we don’t know the exact reason of the phenomenon yet, we have to keep finding and studying the factors to save polar bears.
Reference
Bhattacharya, S. (2004, January 7). Global warming threatens millions of species. NewScientists.com. Retrieved June 11, 2008, from http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn4545-global-warming-threatens-millions-of-species.
Hintermister, R. (2008, June 9). Polar Bears Are Doing Fine. Courant.com. Retrieved June 11, 2008, from http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/letters/hc-digedlets0609.art1jun09,0,3463341.story
Polar Bear. (n.d.). Defenders of Wildlife. Retrieved June 11, 2008, from http://www.defenders.org/wildlife_and_habitat/wildlife/polar_bear.php
Polar Bear Background and Recovery. (n.d.). Defenders of Wildlife. Retrieved June 11, 2008, from http://www.defenders.org/programs_and_policy/wildlife_conservation/imperiled_species/polar_bear/background_and_recovery.php
Stop Polar Bear Hunting. (n.d.). Stop Polar Bear Hunting. Retrieved June 11, 2008, from http://www.stoppolarbearhunting.com/
What You Can Do to Protect Polar Bears. (n.d.). THE HUMANE SOCIETY OF THE UNITED STATES. Retrieved June 11, 2008, from http://www.hsus.org/marine_mammals/a_closer_look_at_marine_mammals/polar_bears/what_you_can_do_to_protect_polar_bears.html
Wildlife Conservation Society. (2007, Jun 1). Want To Save Polar Bears? Follow The Ice. ScienceDaily. Retrieved June 11, 2008, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/05/070531095420.htm
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