Scientists Debate Moving Polar Bears to Antarctica as Arctic Melts
July 24, 2008 · Print This Article
Scientists are obviously reaching a point of true desperation. While the world still debates whether climate change is even real (eye roll), the scientific community is coming back to an idea that was once considered wrongheaded and dangerous: moving species to new areas of the world as their natural habitats become inhabitable. First up: moving the polar bears to the other side of the globe.
From Wired:
Caught between climate change and human pressure, species are going extinct 100 times faster than at any point in human history.
And some scientists say that figure is too conservative. The real extinction rate, they say, is a full 1,000 times higher than normal. The last time such annihilation took place was during the time of the dinosaurs. And though many conservationists say that saving species by transplanting them is foolish, others say there’s no choice.
“They want the world to be what it was before. But it’s not going to happen,” said Australian ecologist Hugh Possingham, author of an assisted-colonization article published Thursday in Science (citation page).
This does indeed seem like a very bad idea. Who knows what the effects could be of moving species so far away from their natural habitats? After all, such a move will affect the entire global ecosystem. The animal kingdom would have to figure out a new hierarchy. The consequences would be massive. It’s truly frightening to imagine that we are nearly to the point of needing a modern-day Noah’s Ark.
Link [Wired]
Photo credit: Flickr user edanley
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I think it is a bad idea too. It really sounds like a cop out… ‘well, we’ve lost the battle, let’s find the survivors and run.’ I’m all for saving the polar bears, but let’s try to preserve their current environment. To sustain the environment in the future, individuals will need to make a more conscientious effort. We, as consumers, should seek to support businesses that not only provide us with the desired utility, but also benefit the environment. For example, I came across a website, http://www.simplestop.net that stops your postal junk mail and benefits the environment.
The polar bears are absolutely fine.
Would be an interesting solution to the penguin population boom though lol. Bet you didn’t know there was one.
Moving polar Bear to another place is not real solving problems. The place that we move them is also can become like his old place because of the Global warming.