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Whales

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Polar Bears

Rams

MAY 2014 Issue 33

1 Alaska’s Wildlife May 2014

The Table of

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May 2014 Alaska’s Wildlife 2

Contents May 2014

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3 Alaska’s Wildlife May 2014

POLAR BEARS

worldwildlife.org

Help an adopt a

May 2014 Alaska’s Wildlife 4

FROM THE EDITOR’S DESKWritten by Jay Jones

Global Warming Affecting Our Wildlifeur Artic ice has been de-clineing every year and is expected to continue to decline. According to the National Wildlife Feder-

ation two thirds of the polar bears population will disappear by 2050.

Loss of wetlands: Higher tempera-tures will lead to drier conditions in the Midwest’s Prairie Pothold region, one of the most important breeding areas for North American water fowl.

Sea-level rise: Sea-level rise will inundate beaches and marshes and cause erosion on both coasts, diminishing habitat for birds, in-vertebrates, fish, and other coastal wildlife.

Invasive species and disease: High-er average temperatures and chang-es in rain and snow paterns will enable some invasion plant species to move into new areas. Insect pest infestations will be more severe as pests such as mountain pine bee-tele are able to take advantage of drought-weakened plants. Patho-gens and their hosts that thrive in higher temperatures will spread to new aread (Global Warming, 2012).

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8 Alaska’s Wildlife May 2014

Saving

May 2014 Alaska’s Wildlife 9

Warming

Our WildlifeFrom Global

aving our wild-life from Glob-al warming is extremely important, so

our friendly wildlife does not become instinct. Right now our polar bears are slowly decreasing in size due to our Artic sea ice is melting. The retreat of ice has implications beyond the obvious

habitat loss. Remaining ice is farther from shore, making it less accessible. The larger gap of open water between the ice and land also contributes to rougher wave conditions, mak-ing the bears’ swim from shore to sea ice more hazardous (Global Warming and Polar Bears, 2012).

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