{"id":272323,"date":"2023-08-09T13:11:24","date_gmt":"2023-08-09T11:11:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=272323"},"modified":"2023-08-09T13:11:37","modified_gmt":"2023-08-09T11:11:37","slug":"climate-activists-are-silent-on-polar-bears-because-their-doom-mongering-blew-up-in-their-faces","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=272323","title":{"rendered":"Climate activists are silent on polar bears because their doom-mongering blew up in their faces"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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From polarbearscience<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A\u00a0Grist<\/em>\u00a0article last week pandered to activist polar bear specialists over their failed climate change agenda as it tried to minimize\u00a0why the climate movement doesn\u2019t talk about polar bears anymore<\/a><\/em>. Apparently, the Arctic icon has \u201clargely fallen out of fashion\u201d through \u201coverexposure\u201d resulting in polar bear images invoking \u201ccynicism and fatigue.\u201d But that isn\u2019t really true, is it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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While there is an admission that the\u00a0over-hyped lies about starving bears<\/a>\u00a0promoted by National Geographic<\/a>\u00a0in 2017 and 2018 were a factor, there is no mention in the article of the\u00a0well-known, documented evidence<\/a>\u00a0of scientists\u2019 own\u00a0failed assumptions<\/em>\u00a0that polar bears require summer sea ice for survival have had any impact on public opinion (Amstrup et al. 2007; Crockford 2015, 2019,\u00a02022<\/a>, 2023; Lippold et al. 2019; Rode et al. 2021).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thriving populations in the Chukchi Sea and elsewhere amid low summer ice levels have busted the myth that polar bears need ice year-round.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Andrew Derocher was also allowed to repeat, unchallenged, the ridiculous narrative he and his activist supporters have peddled before, that insists the polar bear had become a climate change icon by accident rather than design, a lie I\u00a0addressed in detail last year<\/a>. Some excerpts from that 2022 post are copied below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Excerpts from \u201cPolar bears became global warming icons because biologists promoted a narrative of doom since 1999: it didn\u2019t happen by\u00a0accident,\u201d originally published\u00a01 September 2022<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe polar bear became an \u2018accidental icon\u2019 of climate change<\/em>\u201c, claims\u00a0a recent CBC Radio interview<\/a>\u00a0with ardent global warming promoter and polar bear catastrophist Andrew Derocher. Derocher\u2019s insistence that the polar bear became a climate change icon \u201cby accident\u201d is historical revisionism. While such a statement may be attractive now that polar bears are not dying in droves as he and his colleagues\u00a0predicted in 2007<\/a>, that doesn\u2019t make it true.<\/p>\n\n\n

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In the summer of 1999, polar bear biologist Ian Stirling helped produce a short doomsday film spectacular for the biggest news outlet in Canada at the time, in which he hyped his \u2018climate warming\u2019 fears about Hudson Bay polar bears, yet we are expected to believe Derocher that on September 4, 2000,\u00a0Time Magazine<\/em>\u00a0put polar bears on its \u201cArctic Meltdown\u201d cover because they \u2018just happened\u2019 to hear about an academic paper Stirling had written the year before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ian Stirling (Derocher\u2019s Ph.D. supervisor) arranged for a team of CBC reporters to accompany himself and colleague Nick Lunn during their tagging of Western Hudson Bay bears. His paper had been just been\u00a0published in January<\/a>\u00a0that year. Perhaps someone from the CBC\u00a0just happened<\/em>\u00a0to be reading that particular scientific journal and saw his paper, or perhaps Stirling\u00a0just happened<\/em>\u00a0to make a phone call and gave them a heads-up, especially when sea ice breakup came earlier than expected that summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ensuing\u00a0video feature<\/a>\u00a0(originally called \u201cThe shrinking polar bears of Hudson Bay\u201d, now \u201cClimate change threatens polar bears\u201d, see link below), was shown on CBC television\u2019s nightly news program (The National<\/em>) on the 23rd of September, and was probably picked up by other news outlets around the world. As I wrote\u00a0about in 2015<\/a>, it included Stirling voicing his dire warning that these polar bears would soon disappear if nothing was done about human-caused \u2018climate warming\u2019. That was 1999, remember: based\u00a0only<\/em>\u00a0on a just-published academic paper (Stirling et al. 1999) that showed a\u00a0statistically-insignificant<\/strong>\u00a0correlation between polar bear survival and sea ice coverage in Western Hudson Bay only, and which did not mention that declines in survival had been happening since the early 1980s\u00a0without any changes in sea ice\u00a0<\/em>(more on that below).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The News Feature:\u00a0\u201cClimate change threatens polar bears\u201d<\/em><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0Broadcast date 23 September 1999, Duration 16:40\u00a0Disappearing ice in Hudson Bay in 1999 means polar bears can\u2019t build up their fat reserves and nourish their young.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The basis for the Stirling hype and its consequences<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Derocher failed to explain to the CBC Radio host that in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Ian Stirling was struggling to explain why\u00a0polar bear survival in Western Hudson Bay in the 1980s<\/a>\u00a0(especially 1983) had taken such a nose-dive (Derocher 1991; Derocher and Stirling 1992, 1995; Stirling 2002; Stirling and Lunn 1997) or that he and Derocher (his student at the time)\u00a0embraced climate scientist James Hansen\u2019s notion<\/a>\u00a0of human-caused global warming and expeditiously dropped their previous explanation that the population was approaching carrying capacity \u2014 even though it\u00a0fit their observations perfectly<\/a>. Both researchers had to have known that asking the government for research grants to document this new \u2018climate warming\u2019 threat to polar bear survival would be more likely to get funded than a request to study polar bears reaching a peak of abundance (Crockford 2019).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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1983 was a worrying year for polar bear biologists working in Western Hudson Bay: this female weighed only 99kg when captured that year. Many others were in similar condition, a phenomenon that hasn\u2019t been seen since, yet sea ice breakup had not been earlier than usual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Derocher also fails to mention the fact that\u00a0polar bear specialists<\/a>\u00a0so hated the \u2018least concern\u2019 Red List classification the bears were given by the IUCN in 1996 after their swift recovery from over-hunting (achieved through international treaty protection) that these science-trained advocates \u2014 encouraged by Stirling and egged on by aggressive conservation organizations \u2014 worked tirelessly to create an apparent connection between predictions of declining sea ice due to global warming and a possible future threat to polar bear health and survival (Crockford 2019).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By 2006, polar bear biologists got the IUCN classification changed\u00a0back to \u2018vulnerable\u2019\u00a0<\/a>based on predictions of future sea ice loss due to human-caused global warming and by 2008 were successful in having the bears classified as \u2018threatened\u2019 on the US Endangered Species List, also based on future threats due to human-caused global warming (Stirling and Derocher 2007). This had never been done for any other animal by either agency and none of it would have been possible without the scientific studies undertaken\u00a0expressly to support this agenda<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other words, far from being \u201caccidental\u201d, polar bear specialists (and Ian Stirling in particular) used the fledgling global warming agenda for their own ends: they employed emotionally manipulative narratives about starving and dying animals to boost funding for their field and\u00a0ensure their job security<\/a>. Polar bear specialists fed the climate change beast by providing it with an icon, and then sat back to reap the rewards. I have no doubt Ian Stirling knew exactly what the media and climate activists would do with that short documentary for the CBC back in 1999.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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References<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amstrup, S.C., Marcot, B.G. & Douglas, D.C. 2007.<\/strong>\u00a0Forecasting the rangewide status of polar bears at selected times in the 21st century.<\/em>\u00a0US Geological Survey. Reston, VA. Pdf\u00a0here<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Castro de la Guardia, L., Myers, P.G., Derocher, A.E., Lunn, N.J., Terwisscha van Scheltinga, A.D. 2017.<\/strong>\u00a0Sea ice cycle in western Hudson Bay, Canada, from a polar bear perspective.\u00a0Marine Ecology Progress Series<\/em>564:<\/strong>\u00a0225\u2013233.\u00a0http:\/\/www.int-res.com\/abstracts\/meps\/v564\/p225-233\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crockford, S.J. 2015.<\/strong>\u00a0The Arctic Fallacy: Sea Ice Stability and the Polar Bear.\u00a0Global Warming Policy Foundation Briefing Paper 16.<\/em>\u00a0London. Pdf\u00a0here<\/a>. Available at\u00a0http:\/\/www.thegwpf.org\/susan-crockford-the-arctic-fallacy-2\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crockford, S.J. 2019<\/strong>.\u00a0The Polar Bear Catastrophe That Never Happened<\/em>. Global Warming Policy Foundation, London. Available in\u00a0paperback<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0ebook<\/a>\u00a0formats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crockford, S.J. 2022.\u00a0<\/strong>Fallen Icon: Sir David Attenborough and the Walrus Deception<\/em>. Amazon Digital Services, Victoria. Available in hardcover, paperback and ebook formats\u00a0https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/dp\/0991796691<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/0991796691<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crockford, S.J. 2023.<\/strong>\u00a0Polar Bear Evolution: A Model for How New Species Arise<\/em>. Amazon Digital Services, Victoria. \u00a0Available in hardcover, paperback and ebook formats\u00a0https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/1778038328<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/dp\/1778038328<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Derocher, A.E. 1991.<\/strong>\u00a0Population dynamics and ecology of polar bears in western Hudson Bay. Ph.D. Thesis, Univ. Alberta, Edmonton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Derocher 2005.<\/strong>\u00a0Population ecology of polar bears at Svalbard, Norway.\u00a0Population Ecology<\/em>\u00a047:<\/strong>267-275. http:\/\/www.springerlink.com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca\/content\/765147518rp35613\/fulltext.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Derocher, A.E. and Stirling, I. 1992.<\/strong>\u00a0The population dynamics of polar bears in western Hudson Bay. pg. 1150-1159 in D. R. McCullough and R. H. Barrett, eds.\u00a0Wildlife 2001: Populations.<\/em>\u00a0Elsevier Sci. Publ., London, U.K.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abstract.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Reproductive output of polar bears in western Hudson Bay declined through the 1980\u2019s from higher levels in the 1960\u2019s and 1970\u2019s. Age of first reproduction increased slightly and the rate of litter production declined from 0.45 to 0.35 litters\/female\/year over the study, indicating that the reproductive interval had increased. Recruitment of cubs to autumn decreased from 0.71 to 0.53 cubs\/female\/year.\u00a0<\/em>Cub mortality increased from the early to late 1980\u2019s<\/em><\/strong>. Litter size did not show any significant trend or significant annual variation due to an increase in loss of the whole litter. Mean body weights of females with cubs in the spring and autumn declined significantly. Weights of cubs in the spring did not decline, although weights of both female and male cubs declined over the study. The population is approximately 60% female, possibly due to the sex-biased harvest. Although estimates of population size are not available from the whole period over which we have weight and reproductive data,\u00a0<\/em>the changes in reproduction, weight, and cub mortality are consistent with the predictions of a density dependent response to increasing population size.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0[my bold]<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Derocher, A.E. and Stirling, I. 1995.<\/strong>\u00a0Temporal variation in reproduction and body mass of polar bears in western Hudson Bay.\u00a0Canadian Journal of Zoology<\/em>\u00a073:<\/strong>1657-1665.\u00a0http:\/\/www.nrcresearchpress.com\/doi\/abs\/10.1139\/z95-197<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lippold, A., Bourgeon, S., Aars, J., et al. 2019.<\/strong>\u00a0Temporal trends of persistent organic pollutants in Barents Sea polar bears (Ursus maritimus<\/em>) in relation to changes in feeding habits and body condition.\u00a0Environmental Science and Technolog<\/em>y 53(2):984-995.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ramsay, M.A. and Stirling, I. 1988.<\/strong>\u00a0Reproductive biology and ecology of female polar bears (Ursus maritimus<\/em>).\u00a0Journal of Zoology London<\/em>\u00a0214:<\/strong>601-624.\u00a0http:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1111\/j.1469-7998.1988.tb03762.x\/abstract<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rode, K. D., Regehr, E.V., Bromaghin, J. F., et al. 2021.<\/strong>\u00a0Seal body condition and atmospheric circulation patterns influence polar bear body condition, recruitment, and feeding ecology in the Chukchi Sea.\u00a0Global Change Biology<\/em>\u00a027:2684\u20132701.\u00a0https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1111\/gcb.15572<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stirling, I. 2002.<\/strong>\u00a0Polar bears and seals in the eastern Beaufort Sea and Amundsen Gulf: a synthesis of population trends and ecological relationships over three decades.\u00a0Arctic<\/em>\u00a055 (Suppl. 1):<\/strong>59-76.\u00a0http:\/\/arctic.synergiesprairies.ca\/arctic\/index.php\/arctic\/issue\/view\/42<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stirling and Derocher 1993.<\/strong>\u00a0Possible impacts of climatic warming on polar bears.\u00a0Arctic<\/em>\u00a046(3):240-245. Open access\u00a0https:\/\/arctic.journalhosting.ucalgary.ca\/arctic\/index.php\/arctic\/article\/view\/1348<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stirling, I. and Derocher, A.E. 2007.\u00a0<\/strong>Melting Under Pressure\u00a0The Wildlife Professional,\u00a0<\/em>Fall: 24-27, 43. pdf\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stirling, I. and Lunn, N.J. 1997<\/strong>. Environmental fluctuations in arctic marine ecosystems as reflected by variability in reproduction of polar bears and ringed seals. In\u00a0Ecology of Arctic Environments<\/em>, Woodin, S.J. and Marquiss, M. (eds), pg. 167-181. Blackwell Science, UK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While there is an admission that the\u00a0over-hyped lies about starving bears\u00a0promoted by National Geographic\u00a0in 2017 and 2018 were a factor, there is no mention in the article of the\u00a0well-known, documented evidence\u00a0of scientists\u2019 own\u00a0failed assumptions\u00a0that polar bears require summer sea ice for survival have had any impact on public opinion <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":272337,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691818601,691818608,691818056,691821718,691818251],"class_list":{"0":"post-272323","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-chukchi-sea","9":"tag-climate-activists","10":"tag-climate-change","11":"tag-over-hyped-lies","12":"tag-polar-bears","14":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Arctic.jpeg?fit=1920%2C1279&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-18Qj","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":216926,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=216926","url_meta":{"origin":272323,"position":0},"title":"Polar bears became global warming icons because biologists promoted a narrative of doom since 1999: it didn\u2019t happen \u201aby accident \u2018","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"02\/09\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"In the summer of 1999, polar bear biologist Ian Stirling helped produce a short doomsday film spectacular for the biggest news outlet in Canada at the time,","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image-99.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image-99.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image-99.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image-99.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image-99.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":424842,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=424842","url_meta":{"origin":272323,"position":1},"title":"True, Mother Jones, Polar Bears Are More Adaptable Than Alarmists Have Claimed","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"06\/02\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"A recent article at Mother Jones, \u201cSomething Unexpected Is Happening With Norway\u2019s Polar Bears,\u201d expresses surprise that polar bear populations in Norway are actually getting healthier amid declining sea ice. This is true, though it is not truly \u201cnews,\u201d in the sense of something newly discovered, and should not have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"climate alarmist websites\"","block_context":{"text":"climate alarmist websites","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-alarmist-websites"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AQMQrIsPDyecP2Z7WTKer5dSMLhG0hc159K1OOi4wI7h8MJ4wOAA24-rP-zkWdrJchi-XvWaq86ElbcLcCsUjXaRQkevfcuO15rJRFUOTNYgCxjj_A_xSDNkZBHNGxLc.jpeg?fit=1200%2C793&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AQMQrIsPDyecP2Z7WTKer5dSMLhG0hc159K1OOi4wI7h8MJ4wOAA24-rP-zkWdrJchi-XvWaq86ElbcLcCsUjXaRQkevfcuO15rJRFUOTNYgCxjj_A_xSDNkZBHNGxLc.jpeg?fit=1200%2C793&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AQMQrIsPDyecP2Z7WTKer5dSMLhG0hc159K1OOi4wI7h8MJ4wOAA24-rP-zkWdrJchi-XvWaq86ElbcLcCsUjXaRQkevfcuO15rJRFUOTNYgCxjj_A_xSDNkZBHNGxLc.jpeg?fit=1200%2C793&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AQMQrIsPDyecP2Z7WTKer5dSMLhG0hc159K1OOi4wI7h8MJ4wOAA24-rP-zkWdrJchi-XvWaq86ElbcLcCsUjXaRQkevfcuO15rJRFUOTNYgCxjj_A_xSDNkZBHNGxLc.jpeg?fit=1200%2C793&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AQMQrIsPDyecP2Z7WTKer5dSMLhG0hc159K1OOi4wI7h8MJ4wOAA24-rP-zkWdrJchi-XvWaq86ElbcLcCsUjXaRQkevfcuO15rJRFUOTNYgCxjj_A_xSDNkZBHNGxLc.jpeg?fit=1200%2C793&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":235029,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=235029","url_meta":{"origin":272323,"position":2},"title":"No evidence for BBC claim that Churchill is simply getting too warm for polar bears","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"19\/12\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Another pronouncement\u00a0from conservation activists at\u00a0Polar Bears International\u00a0taken without a single check of facts makes the BBC look ineffective and gullible.","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/image-597.png?fit=1200%2C784&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/image-597.png?fit=1200%2C784&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/image-597.png?fit=1200%2C784&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/image-597.png?fit=1200%2C784&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/image-597.png?fit=1200%2C784&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":241640,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=241640","url_meta":{"origin":272323,"position":3},"title":"No, Washington Post, Climate Change and Melting Sea Ice Aren\u2019t Driving Polar Bear Attacks","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"26\/01\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Polar bear numbers have increased significantly during the period of recent modest warming. Greater polar bear numbers are resulting in polar bears expanding their ranges resulting in more contact and conflict with humans. Higher bear numbers are the cause of the reported increased in bear predation.","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-1129.png?fit=990%2C676&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-1129.png?fit=990%2C676&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-1129.png?fit=990%2C676&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-1129.png?fit=990%2C676&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":228485,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=228485","url_meta":{"origin":272323,"position":4},"title":"Polar bear habitat update: ice forming along Hudson Bay, Wrangel & Franz Josef Islands surrounded","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"10\/11\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Freeze-up this year has been a bit slower than 2020, which was\u00a0as early as the earliest freeze-ups in the 1980s, but not by much.","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/00Wapusk-NP-Female-and-2-COYs-8-Nov-2022-still.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/00Wapusk-NP-Female-and-2-COYs-8-Nov-2022-still.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/00Wapusk-NP-Female-and-2-COYs-8-Nov-2022-still.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/00Wapusk-NP-Female-and-2-COYs-8-Nov-2022-still.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/00Wapusk-NP-Female-and-2-COYs-8-Nov-2022-still.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":217202,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=217202","url_meta":{"origin":272323,"position":5},"title":"Fact check: Polar bears breaking through thin ice is not evidence of climate change, it\u2019s a drone chase","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"03\/09\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The truth is that these bears were not struggling to survive they were chasing a drone.","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image-195.png?fit=566%2C631&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image-195.png?fit=566%2C631&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image-195.png?fit=566%2C631&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121246920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=272323"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272323\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":272338,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272323\/revisions\/272338"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/272337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=272323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=272323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=272323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}