Loving Polar Bears --- from a Distance

 

When the film An Inconvenient Truth was released in 2006 it got a lot of attention around the globe, won an Oscar, and was instrumental in former Veep Al Gore being presented with a Nobel Peace Prize the following year. Not bad for what is really an illustrated talk about what we then called climate change rather than the climate crisis or emergency. It was the right documentary at the right time.

Along with the praise there were the critics who felt that Gore's conclusions were extreme in their interpretation of the science. More than a decade later some of those conclusions may actually have been optimistic. And some mocked a brief animated segment about polar bears risking extinction because of diminishing Arctic ice. A lack of ice makes it difficult for the bears to hunt and they risk starvation. The image of the starving bears was greeted with derision by climate change deniers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whWvXkK0HJ8

A recent study of two-thirds of the 19 populations of polar bears in the Arctic (there are about 25,000 polar bears remaining) suggests that they may in fact face extinction by the end of the 21st century. Decline is already well under way in southern areas, with the Southern Beaufort Sea sub-population reduced by 40 percent, to about 900 bears, in the first decade of this century. 

This seems to be the constant refrain about species around the planet, with comparatively few success stories of  protection and restoration (thankfully there are some.) And every time scientists describe their findings they are met with indifference or hostility by those who are ideologically disposed toward climate change denial. 

There are references to bears in the bible, but there ain't no white ones. It hasn't stopped illustrators from including them on Noah's Ark. because we all think they're cute providing they're not 20 metres away. 

I figure it is our Christian responsibility to protect all species, regardless of the the cuteness factor. The intricate balance of Creation is essential to existence.