Polar Bears (Ursus maritimus)
This page contains links to information focusing primarily on polar bears; for general information on the Arctic that may contain references to polar bears, see the “Polar Regions” section on the Regional Focus page.

In May 2008, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service listed the polar bear (Ursus maritimus) as a threatened species on the Endangered Species List. Yet far before this listing, the polar bear had become a widely recognized icon of the effects of climate change on biodiversity. Below are a handful of key resources for understanding the complex science and policy issues surrounding this most charismatic exemplar of arctic megafauna.

Journal & Magazine Articles

• Armstrong, J. Scott, Kesten C. Green, and Willie Soon. Accepted 3 May 2008. Polar bear population forecasts: A public-policy forecasting audit (version 77). Interfaces.
• Dowsley, Martha. 2007. Inuit Perspectives on Polar Bears (Ursus maritimus) and Climate Change in Baffin Bay, Nunavut, Canada. Research and Practice in Social Sciences 2, no. 2: 53-74.
• Murphy, Gregory. 2007. Polar Bears Are Smarter Than Al Gore. Executive Intelligence Review 34, no. 35.
• Hovelsrud, Grete K., Meghan McKenna, and Henry P. Huntington. 2008. Marine mammal harvests and other interactions with humans. Ecological Applications 18, no. sp2: S135-S147.
  
• Regehr, Eric V., Nicholas J. Lunn, Steven C. Amstrup, and I. A. N. Stirling. 2007. Effects of Earlier Sea Ice Breakup on Survival and Population Size of Polar Bears in Western Hudson Bay. Journal of Wildlife Management 71, no. 8: 2673-2683.
  
• Stirling, Ian and Claire L. Parkinson. 2006. Possible effects of climate warming on selected populations of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) in the Canadian Arctic. Arctic 59, no. 3: 261–275.
  
• Derocher, Andrew E., Nicholas J. Lunn, and Ian Stirling. 2004. Polar bears in a warming climate. Integrative and Comparative Biology 44, no. 2: 163-176.
  

• PLF challenges polar bear listing. Pacific Legal Foundation. 2008.
• Last-Ditch Resort: Move Polar Bears to Antarctica? Wired. 2008 July 17.
• Rare polar bear sighting on Iceland. AFP, 2008 June 17.
• Federal polar bear research critically flawed, forecasting expert asserts. ScienceDaily, 2008 May 10.
• Polar Bears Wait-Listed as Endangered. Time, 2008 January 17.
• Polar Bear Is Made a Protected Species Barringer, Felicity. 2008. New York Times, 15 May.
  
• Oil cos. expect battles over polar bear listingQuinn, Steve. 2008. Associated Press, May 14.
  
• Loaded for bear. Schulman, Daniel. 2008, May 8. Mother Jones.
  
• Landscape of change: Climate change is forcing the Service to redefine its approach to conservation. Eisenhauer, David. 2008. Fish & Wildlife News. Winter, 10.
  
• Climate change sceptics criticise polar bear science. New Scientist, 2007 July 1.
• Misquoted scientists cry foul over polar bear editorial. DeSmogBlog.com, 2007 January 3.
• Saint Ursus Maritimus. Robbins, Jim. 2007. Conservation Magazine 8, no. 4. ***Insightful perspective on unintended consequences of listing the polar bear under the ESA.***
  
• On thin ice: Hit by a double whammy of toxic chemicals and global climate change, polar bears face extinction. Cone, Marla. 2006. Mother Jones. March.
  

• Public Policy Forecasting: Polar Bear Population Forecasts
  
• Center for Biological Diversity
  
• Climate Institute
  
• National Wildlife Federation
  
• Polar Bears International
  
• Wildlife Conservation Society
  

• Eisenhauer, David. 2008. Landscape of change: Climate change is forcing the Service to redefine its approach to conservation. Fish & Wildlife News. Winter, 10.
  
• U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. 2008. Secretary Kempthorne announces decision to protect polar bears under Endangered Species Act.
  
• U.S. FWS. 2008. Endangered and threatened wildlife and plants: Determination of threatened status for the polar bear (Ursus maritimus) throughout its range. Federal Register 73, no. 95: 28212-28303.
  

• Sea World. N.d. Polar Bears: Current Status and Trends.
• World Wildlife Fund. 2008. Facts and fallacies about polar bears: Polar bear listing – Dispelling fallacies with facts. Washington, DC.
• Defenders of Wildlife. c2008. Navigating the Arctic meltdown: Polar bears. Washington, DC.
• National Wildlife Federation. 2008. The Polar Bear: The Canary in the Coal Mine. Washington, DC.
• Hrynyshyn, James. 2005. Chemistry, calibre and climate: The plight of Canada’s polar bears. Canadian Marine Environment Protection Society. August.
• Kazlowski, Steven. 2008. The last polar bear: Facing the truth of a warming world, 1st edition. Seattle, WA: Mountaineers Books.
  • See Kazlowski’s website, Left Eye Productions, for information about the authors work and book tour events.
  • Amazon.com site (with viewable pages)
• U.S. FWS. 2008. Endangered and threatened wildlife and plants: Determination of threatened status for the polar bear (Ursus maritimus) throughout its range. Federal Register 73, no. 95: 28212-28303.
  

• Environmental Defense Fund/Ad Council PSA
  
• USGS Presentation: The Implications of Climate Change in the Management of Vulnerable Species: The case study of polar bears
  
• Educational resource from ClimateChangeNorth: Polar Bears & Ice
  
• WWF Video: Noah Wyle on polar bears
  
• WWF Video: On thin ice