Quote:

Polar Bears Are Suffering from the Arctic’s Loss of Sea Ice. So Is Scientists’ Ability to Study Them The melting ice is affecting the bears’ behavior and physical condition, and it has made studying them through forays out onto the ice a treacherous business. . . . Retreating sea ice in the Arctic is crippling scientists’ ability to study and monitor polar bears, Atwood and other experts say. The study of the bears, top-of-the-food-chain carnivores with adorable faces, is critical for conservation of the animals and their environment. Studies show that the decline of sea ice, driven by climate change, is affecting the behavior and physical condition of polar bears, and making it harder for the animals to find enough food to survive. But fallout from global warming also means that Atwood and other researchers have fewer opportunities to hop in a helicopter for forays over the ice. Normally, polar bear scientists track the status of the bears by spotting them from an aircraft, sedating them and landing nearby to conduct a thorough biological examination. The South Beaufort, where Atwood does his research, historically has been frozen over for most of the year, with some slivers of ice disappearing near the shores in late summer, usually August and September. But in recent years, the ice-free areas have greatly enlarged, and persisted for longer periods because of climate change. Over the last 25 years, the summer melt period has lengthened by as much as 82 percent, according to USGS studies, and sea ice cover has declined by more than half a million square miles.  The acceleration of sea ice melt results from a combination of warming Pacific Ocean water in the Bering Strait and record high surface air temperatures across the entire Arctic region, said Rick Thoman, a climate specialist with the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. “The water and air temperatures are conspiring to not only reduce the extent of ice in all seasons but also leading to thinning of the ice that remains,” he said.

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/05102021/polar-bear-science-research-arctic-sea-ice-climate-change

A couple of changes are that the polar bears are moving onto land and also that they are inbreeding more.

Polar bear populations had rebounded after hunting them was outlawed. Then the ice melted.

This year Arctic sea ice extent and area actually increased a bit, but the ice is more like slurry with volume way down.

They're adapting ... as most animals do

there is even evidence of an increase in the cross breeding of polar & grizzly bears....

they can even catch Beluga whales without ice.

Do not believe half the shyte Nat Geo/ David Attenborough or the money making WWF put to air.

In fact this is their own footage.

https://youtu.be/edHWwHE0kVA

The ice left in the Arctic is slush, polar bears hunt seals on icefloes.

The numbers shot up after hunting of polar bears was prohibited but are declining again. The mating between polar and grizzly bears is because polar bears are moving onto the land more.

https://arcticwwf.org/species/polar-bear/population/

Most subpopulations: vulnerable etc.