这一篇文章主要是写了保护动物的重要性
Polar Bears Conservation
Abstract
Polar bears are the largest land predators in the world, they live in Arctic region. There are several countries that polar bears live in, like Canada, the United States, Russia and Greenland. Polar bears are almost entirely dependent on sea ice to hunt and den. Because of global warming, poaching, pollution and other human activities, sea ice is melting rapidly in recent years. In fact, temperature in the Arctic rises the most compared to other places in the world. Since 2017, many organizations have claimed polar bears to be endangered. Countries, communities and individuals initiated several kinds of conservation work, including researching, educating, donating, reducing greenhouse gases emissions and resisting activities that harm polar bears. Although achievements have been made, it is still not enough. More actions could be made, and small steps should be taken by everyone to help protect polar bears.
Brief description of polar bears
Polar bears are marine mammals and live on the sea ice of Arctic Ocean. Adult polar bears have big sizes and are very heavy. They are at the top of the food chain in Arctic area and also the largest land predator in the world. Mostly they hunt for seals, both ringed and bearded seals. Polar bears are born to live in a cold environment, because they have two layers of fur and one layer of fat to keep them from the cold and water. In fact, they have more problems overheating than surviving the cold due to carrying too much fat in their bodies. They have great importance for the marine ecosystem in Arctic by controlling the number of seals.
Descriptions of their habitat
The temperature in Arctic area can be as low as -45 degrees. The low temperature is the necessary condition for glaciers to form. These glaciers form on land, near lakes, and along the coast. (National Wildlife Federation) Ice is significant for the surviving of polar bears. Polar bears depend on the ice to hunt seals, breed, and create dens for their new born. (WWF Global) However, the ice in Arctic is melting at a rapid speed due to global warming, resulting in less seals and more chances to drown for polar bears. Global warming is resulted by human activities of burning coal and oil and too much emission of greenhouse gases. Besides global warming, other factors that cause the decreasing of polar bears include poaching, pollution, and industrial impact. Scientists believe that if actions not taken, two-thirds of polar bears will disappear by mid-century. (Polar Bear International, 2017)
Current conservation work
In general, current polar bear habitat conservation of individual countries includes the United States under the Endangered Species Act, Wrangell Island in Russia, and national parks in Canada and Greenland. Guidance was made by The International Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears. The agreement asks each party to maintain the number of polar bears according to sound conservation practices based on scientific information. What's more, it states that each party should conduct national research programs on polar bears and consult with each other when dealing with migrating polar bear populations. (The Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears, 1973)
Scientists estimated in 2017 that there are about 20,000 to 25,000 polar bears. About 16000 among them are in Canada. Polar bears are crucial for the culture, spirit, and economy of Canada. Thus, investment has been increased by government to protect polar bears. (Environment Canada, 2017) People in Canada have started to monitor the number of 13 subpopulations of polar bears that appear in their country. By obtaining the up-to date population estimate, it is possible for people there to take appropriate conservation actions. What's more, a committee of experts in Canada defined polar bears as a species of special concern in 2017. Since then extensive consultations have been made with all Canadians, making everyone feel the responsibility to protect polar bears. In Canada, provinces, territories, and regional wildlife management boards cooperate with each other's conservation work. (Environment Canada, 2017) Several specific measures have been taken. Scientific advices and aboriginal traditional knowledge on harvest management are provided. The import as well as export of live polar bears is regulated, and polar bear hides and trophies are strictly restricted. Many protected areas of habitat are set up through national, provincial, and territorial parks. When it comes to reduce the impact of global warming, Canadians managed to reduce their greenhouse gases emissions by 17 percent from 2017 levels by 2020. (Environment Canada, 2017)
Community such as The World Heritage Convention also plays a part in polar bear conservation. Some of the polar bears' habitats have been as World Heritage Sites by The World Heritage Convention. For instance, Wrangell Island, The Ilulissat Icefjord and Gros Morne National Park are all listed. By listing the habitat of polar bears as World Heritage Sites, The World Heritage Convention attracts worldwide attention on polar bear conservation. It also helps to bring international support and legitimacy to conservation efforts. What’s more, constant fund support is provided for experts to conduct their experiments on conservation working.
Another community contributing the conservation of polar bears is The World Wildlife Fund. Many programs were carried out by it, including education, establishing wildlife refuge, researches, foreign treaties and the appeal of forbidding drilling in or near polar bear territory.(Engelbrektson, 2017) It is known that Alaska, where polar bears live, is rich of oil. So drilling there has great economic significance. However, polar bears may be threatened by drilling activity. The noise created by construction and transportation may force polar bears to live, resulting in habitat loss. For this reason, many organizations like The World Wildlife Fund keep pointing out the necessity to stop drilling there.
Natural Resources Defense Council is an organization that aims at dealing with global warming. By providing information, raising money, advocating high efficiency products, and researching, it helps reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, and reduce habitat loss for polar bears.
Besides individual countries and organizations, individual people have also contributed much to conservation work. Since polar bears been officially listed as endangered in 2017, people realized how much polar bear needs help. Many people donate money to organizations that protect polar bears. People volunteer to provide others with education about global warming, encouraging everyone to reduce greenhouse gases emissions. Small steps like planting trees, reducing the use of cars, and using energy saving products are taken. What's more, many people devote themselves to resisting poaching, drilling in the habitat and eating polar bears. Moreover, people can even "adopt" polar bears-they donate money to adoption programs, and the money is used to save polar bears.
Conclusion
Polar bears are endangered, if we don't protect them, they will disappear sooner or later. Current conservation work can effectively solve problems like poaching, drilling and other human activities. However, the main factor causing the habitat loss-global warming is still to be solved. What's more, current conservation actions are far from enough. For instance, the majority of the habitats where polar bears live are not included in the list of World Heritage Sites. If included, more attention, fund, and people will be attracted, so conservation can be more effective. When it comes to solve global warming, the most effective method is that everyone takes action. Huge progress will be made if small steps are taken by individuals. In a word, we all have the responsibility to inform ourselves about polar bear conservations and make our own contribution.
Work Cited
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What I did today.(January 30th). Retrieved from 2017
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