Skip to content
Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube

World Wildlife Day 2022: Polar Bears and Climate Change

It’s World Wildlife Day! Today is the perfect day to celebrate the abundance of diverse wildlife that Manitoba has to offer. From moose to beluga whales, our province is ripe with wildlife that simply cannot be found in many other places.

Manitobans are even lucky enough to share our province with vital keystone species like polar bears, who play a direct role in maintaining their respective ecosystems. In recent years, polar bears have served as a poster child for our growing climate crisis. Their territory consists mainly of sea ice – the loss of which is now the biggest threat to all polar bear populations across the arctic.

According to the latest research shared in a Nature Geoscience article, temperatures in the arctic are rising twice as fast as the rest of the world. With rising temperatures causing sea ice to recede, bears have less ice time to effectively hunt for seals. Dens for mothering bears are also at higher risk of collapsing as snow starts melting earlier in the season. The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change now warns of irreversible damage currently being caused by climate change. However, all is not lost and every single one of us can lessen the environmental impact of our lifestyle choices.

There are many contributing factors to climate change, however global animal agricultural practices emit up to 90 million tonnes of C02 into the atmosphere annually, through the unsustainable burning of fossil fuels. Needless to say, animal agriculture is one of the leading contributors of the current climate crisis, affecting effecting both humans and wildlife across the globe.

The good news is it’s never been easier to take small steps towards living a more eco-friendly lifestyle. Reducing our animal product consumption is key for reducing the emissions brought on by animal agriculture. For instance, it takes more than 15,000 litres of water to produce 1 kg of beef, whereas only 800 litres of water is needed to produce 1 kg of apples. Reports now state that if every individual living in Western society dramatically reduced their meat consumption, there would be a vast drop in the amount of carbon entering our atmosphere every single year.

Together, our small steps can combine and become impactful, global changes that will only benefit ourselves, the animals and our planet.

 

Further Reading: