Environment groups sue over polar bears
Three environmental groups are suing the US government, seeking to protect polar bears from extinction because of disappearing Arctic sea ice.
The case, filed in a federal court in San Francisco, demands that the government take action on a petition to have polar bears listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act.
Once a species is listed as threatened, the US government is barred from doing anything to jeopardise the animal’s existence or its habitat.
In the case of the polar bear, the environmentalists hope to force the government to curb US emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide.
The Centre for Biological Diversity, the Natural Resources Defence Council and Greenpeace said extensive scientific evidence shows sea ice is melting because of global warming.
“Global warming and rising temperatures in the Arctic jeopardise the polar bear’s very existence,” said Melanie Duchin of Greenpeace. “Polar bears cannot survive without sea ice. Polar bears could disappear in our lifetime if we don’t take action.”
Valerie Fellows, a Fish and Wildlife Service spokeswoman in Washington, said she did not have the details of the legal case in front of her so could not comment on specific details.
America’s polar bears are found in Alaska. The Beaufort Sea stock off Alaska’s northern coast is estimated at 2,000 animals. The Bering-Chukchi stock off Alaska’s northwest coast, a population shared with Russia, is estimated at 2,000 to 5,000.
There is no firm count of polar bears, and the lawsuit did not indicate how many may have been lost because of retreating ice.
In September, the University of Colorado’s National Snow and Ice Data Centre, Nasa and the University of Washington announced a “stunning reduction in Arctic sea ice at the end of the northern summer".
Further information on the US fish and wildlife service for the Alaska region, can be viewed at: http://alaska.fws.gov.
