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Line 50: − ==Political Value==+ + + + + + − Polar bears have been used as a political tactic by liberals in order to try to make Americans believe in global warming. Polar bears often inhabit watery areas in order to get food easier. Photos are taken of them hunting and used as an example of global warming.
Clearly polar bears can adapt to climate change. They have evolved and persisted for thousands of years in a period characterized by fluctuating climate
In 2002, the US Geological Survey in the Arctic Refuge Coastal plain reported the polar bear population was near historic highs. [http://icecap.us/index.php/go/faqs-and-myths#2]
In 2002, the US Geological Survey in the Arctic Refuge Coastal plain reported the polar bear population was near historic highs. [http://icecap.us/index.php/go/faqs-and-myths#2]
==Activism==
==Global Warming Controversy==
The polar bear has become a "symbol of global warming caused by humans" in the eyes of environmentalists.
The polar bear has become a "symbol of global warming caused by humans" in the eyes of environmentalists.
The [[World Conservation Union]] (IUCN) classified the polar bear as a "vulnerable species" on the "Red List of Threatened Species".<ref>2007 IUCN Red List: [http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/22823/all "Ursus maritimus"]</ref> The given reason was not hunting, but rather the assumed impact of global warming on their habitat.<ref>''Global climate change posses a substantial threat to the habitat of polar bears.'' - 2007 IUCN Red List: [http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/22823/all "Ursus maritimus"] (Justification section)</ref><ref>''"I don't think there is any question polar bears are in danger from global warming," said Andrew Derocher of the World Conservation Union, and a professor of biological sciences at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. "People who deny that have a clear interest in hunting bears."'' - Telegraph.co.uk: [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/03/09/wpolar09.xml " Polar bears 'thriving as the Arctic warms up' "]</ref><ref>''Climate change is the main threat to polar bears today. A diminishing ice pack directly affects polar bears, as sea ice is the platform from which they hunt seals. Although the Arctic has experienced warm periods before, the present shrinking of the Arctic's sea ice is rapid and unprecedented.''- Polar Bears International: [http://www.polarbearsinternational.org/bear-facts/ Bear Facts]</ref>
The [[World Conservation Union]] (IUCN) classified the polar bear as a "vulnerable species" on the "Red List of Threatened Species".<ref>2007 IUCN Red List: [http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/22823/all "Ursus maritimus"]</ref> The given reason was not hunting, but rather the assumed impact of global warming on their habitat.<ref>''Global climate change posses a substantial threat to the habitat of polar bears.'' - 2007 IUCN Red List: [http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/22823/all "Ursus maritimus"] (Justification section)</ref><ref>''"I don't think there is any question polar bears are in danger from global warming," said Andrew Derocher of the World Conservation Union, and a professor of biological sciences at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. "People who deny that have a clear interest in hunting bears."'' - Telegraph.co.uk: [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/03/09/wpolar09.xml " Polar bears 'thriving as the Arctic warms up' "]</ref><ref>''Climate change is the main threat to polar bears today. A diminishing ice pack directly affects polar bears, as sea ice is the platform from which they hunt seals. Although the Arctic has experienced warm periods before, the present shrinking of the Arctic's sea ice is rapid and unprecedented.''- Polar Bears International: [http://www.polarbearsinternational.org/bear-facts/ Bear Facts]</ref>
*... grandstanding political stunts, like calling polar bears an "[[endangered species]]" even when they are at near record-high population levels, are based upon projections of rapid and persistent [[global warming]]. <ref>[http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20080516/EDITORIAL/8210510/1013 Global-warming myth]</ref>
*... grandstanding political stunts, like calling polar bears an "[[endangered species]]" even when they are at near record-high population levels, are based upon projections of rapid and persistent [[global warming]]. <ref>[http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20080516/EDITORIAL/8210510/1013 Global-warming myth]</ref>
Polar bears have been used as a political tactic by liberals in order to try to make Americans believe in global warming. Polar bears often inhabit watery areas in order to get food easier. Photos are taken of them hunting and used as an example of global warming.
According to Mitchell Taylor, who studies the polar bear in Canada,
:"Polar bears were well developed as a separate species by the Eemian interglacial approximately 125,000 years ago. This period was characterized by temperature fluctuations caused by entirely natural events on the same order as those predicted by contemporary climate change models. Polar bears obviously adapted to the changing environment, as evidenced by their presence today. That simple fact is well known and part of the information contained in the reference material cited throughout the petition, yet it is never mentioned. This fact alone is sufficient grounds to reject the petition. Clearly polar bears can adapt to climate change. They have evolved and persisted for thousands of years in a period characterized by fluctuating climate. No rational person could review this information and conclude that climate change pre-destined polar bears to extinction. [http://www.ff.org/centers/csspp/pdf/200701_taylor.pdf]