From Jim Steele

As shown here, any critical thinking person knows the alarmist polar bear narratives are just totally false, ignorant and manipulative fear mongering.

It is not ice that bears depend on, but ringed seals. An understanding of seal biology reveals that less ice is good and more ice is bad for polar bears.

Fact 1: Most ringed seals remain in the Arctic Ocean all winter and give birth to their pups on the ice. Bear cubs and adults gain most of their weight feeding on ringed seal pups from March through May, before any significant sea ice melt.

Fact 2: To survive the winter freeze ringed seals must make breathing holes in the sea ice. They can only make breathing holes in thin new ice. New ice mostly forms where ice melts each summer. Old ice that never melted in previous years is too thick to make breathing holes.

Thus, places like Hudson Bay where the sea ice melts completely each year provides ideal habitat for ringed seals and thus polar bears. In contrast due to dominance of thick multi-year ice, in the central Arctic Ocean very few seals and thus very few polar bears are observed!

Fact 3: Seals depend on fish and the fish food web depends on the primary production of photosynthesizing plankton.

Thick ice prevents photosynthesis. Ice free water allows photosynthesis. Research by Lewis (2020) Changes in Phytoplankton Concentration now drive Increased Arctic Ocean Primary Production reported, “primary production increased by 57% between 1998 and 2018” and “increases were due to widespread sea ice loss”.

Thus the truth is, less ice enables a bountiful food web that sustains the bears.

But observe here how the alarmist Polar Bear International totally misrepresented the arctic food web to push a global warming threat by suggesting the foodweb dependends on ice.

The graphic on the left by the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme correctly illustrates how phytoplankton are mostly abundant where the ice has melted and is in agreement with scientific research that less ice increased primary production by 57%. Their graphic also shows a minor contribution from ice algae.

Then compare the propaganda graphic by Polar Bear International. Their illustration only show ice algae on and under ice, but deceptively omits the far greater importance of phytoplankton to the food web where there is no ice.

Beware people of these dishonest so-called Arctic scientists.

Each summer wherever ice melts, abundant photosynthesizing plankton generate a bountiful food web that maintains an abundance of ringed seals. Ringed seals are so abundant the IUCN designates them as species of Least Concern.

Due to the lack of solar heating during long Arctic nights, new sea ice will always form each year. Each year ringed seals will make their breathing holes and birthing lairs. And female polar bears and their cubs will emerge from winter hibernations to fatten on baby seals. Global warming has benefitted polar bears!