Archives par mot-clé : Bears

climate-debate

Allow children to learn about the Arctic without terrifying them with fantasies of climate catastrophe

by Polar Bear Science, Oct 31, 2022

This is a reminder that I have written three Arctic animal picture books, a polar bear ecology reference book, an Arctic ecology teaching guide (free) & a polar bear attack thriller suitable for teens, all of which let kids be kids.

In contrast to a book reviewer at the New York Times (30 October 2020), see image above:

Two new picture books and a novel for young readers place children at the center of climate calamity. Fittingly, they are stories of homes under threat; home, after all, is the thing climate change stalks, be it a house, a community or a livable planet. Each book offers its own lessons on how to cope with life under the monster we’ve created. The novel even shows how kids can help slay it.

No child needs this. Children need to be allowed to learn without being used as pawns in an adult political battle. Activist authors suggesting that climate change is a predator waiting to ‘stalk’ children’s homes and communities through floods and wildfires is reprehensible, not only because it isn’t true. Kids don’t need a ‘mini-primer on climate change’. Adults should fight their own battles and leave the kids alone. List of my books and links below and in the sidebar.

Polar Bear Facts & Myths, for middle-school kids: Available in six languages: English, French, German, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese. English version also available in ebook version.

Walrus Facts & Myths is available in English in paperback and ebook formats, also aimed at middle-school kids.

Free Arctic sea ice ecology teaching guide for middle-school age home schooled kids. The printable pdf booklet is free to download here.

Polar Bears Have Big Feet, for preschoolers in paperback only (because little kids need one too!).

Polar Bears: Outstanding Survivors of Climate Change, fully referenced information on polar bear ecology, suitable for teens and adults, in paperback and ebook formats.

EATEN: A novel, a polar bear attack thriller suitable for teens and adults, in paperback and ebook formats. Many readers have told me: “I couldn’t put it down.”

climate-debate

Arctic Sea Ice Still Quite Abundant for Early Summer

by S. Crockford, Jul 15, 2022 in WUWT/PolarbearScience

Despite rhetoric to the contrary, there is still plenty of sea ice over Arctic regions this summer, supplying feeding platforms for polar bears, ice-dependent seals, and walrus cows nursing their young calves. Forget about whether the numbers are below or above some short-term average, there is no catastrophe in the making for marine mammals in the Arctic at this time.

Remember, by early summer, young seals have left the surface of the ice and are in the water feeding; predator-savvy adults and subadults are hauled out on broken chunks of ice moulting their hair-coat. They may look like sitting ducks but polar bears have a hard time catching them because the seals are vigilant and have many escape routes available (due to all the open water). Most polar bears in Hudson Bay are still on the ice (you’ll see why below): the live cams near Churchill set up to watch polar bears are presently showing images of ravens with sea ice in the background, not bears.

This post is predominantly sea ice charts for mid-July, what we in the science field call observational evidence, aka ‘facts’. Keep in mind that satellites used to produce these images have an especially hard time distinguishing ice topped with melt water from open water, which means much more ice useful to these marine mammals is almost certainly present than is shown in the charts (as much as 20% more in some regions).

Arctic-wide levels, NSIDC Masie

 

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unclassified

Polar Bears’ Arctic Sea Ice Ecosystem Not In Danger Of Melting Away

by S.J. Crockford, October 31, 2018 in ClimateChangeDispatch

What’s a good analogy for sea ice as essential polar bear habitat? Biologist Andrew Derocher claims that the soil in a forest is appropriate because without the soil you can’t have the forest ecosystem.

However, that’s a specious comparison because the amount of soil in a forest does not change markedly with the seasons the way that Arctic sea ice does.

A much better analogy is a big pond that dries up a bit every summer. The amount of habitat available to sustain aquatic plants, amphibians and insects is reduced in the dry season but many species have special adaptations for surviving reduced water availability.

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