Emily Chan
Unlike other polar bear populations, the Hudson Bay bears don’t have any other place to go if the sea ice at their home becomes unsustainable.
According to Julienne Strove, a co-author of the study and a climate scientist from the University of Manitoba, the way the sea ice drifts with the wind prevents the bears from relocating elsewhere.
Countries involved with the Paris Agreement on climate change have tried to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The upper limit is two degrees Celsius.
However, there is still a 47 percent chance that global average temperatures will surpass 1.5 degrees between 2024 and 2028, per the World Meteorological Organization.
The groups of polar bears at Hudson Bay represent how other populations are faring. If their numbers are declining, the same is true for the 17 other subpopulations.
The paper was published in Communications, Earth & Environment.
