From: punditster@gmail.com   
      
   On 2/2/2026 8:56 AM, Noah Sombrero wrote:   
   > On Mon, 2 Feb 2026 14:25:30 +0000, Julian    
   > wrote:   
   >   
   >>   
   >> Polar bears are getting fatter in the fastest-warming place on Earth   
   >> Shrinking sea ice has made life harder for polar bears in many parts of   
   >> the Arctic, but the population in Svalbard seems to be thriving   
   >>   
   >> Polar bears have been getting fatter even as sea ice disappears in   
   >> Norway’s Svalbard archipelago, the fastest-warming place on Earth – but   
   >> scientists don’t expect the good times to last.   
   >>   
   >> The northern Barents Sea, which stretches between Svalbard and Russia’s   
   >> Novaya Zemlya in the Arctic Ocean, has been heating up seven times   
   >> faster than the globe as a whole. The sea ice around Svalbard lasts two   
   >> months less in winter and spring than it did two decades ago. Bears now   
   >> have to swim 200 to 300 kilometres between hunting grounds on the ice   
   >> and snow dens on the islands where they give birth.   
   >>   
   >> But the average size and weight of the Svalbard bears have increased   
   >> since 2000, a finding that surprised Jon Aars at the Norwegian Polar   
   >> Institute, who led the study.   
   >>   
   >> “We should think about this as good news for Svalbard,” he says. “But   
   if   
   >> you want bad news, you can just go and look somewhere else where you   
   >> have very, very firm evidence that climate change is impacting polar   
   >> bears negatively.”   
   >>   
   >> This wide-ranging, solitary predator is split into 20 populations across   
   >> the far north, where it is extremely difficult to count. While its   
   >> numbers are declining in parts of Alaska, Canada and Greenland, they   
   >> appear to be stable or increasing in other places. For nine of the   
   >> populations, data is too sparse to say.   
   >>   
   >> The Barents Sea population, which was estimated at 1900 to 3600 bears   
   >> two decades ago, is thought to be stable or perhaps even growing.   
   >> Starting in 1995, Aars and his colleagues tranquilised 770 bears with   
   >> dart guns from helicopters. They hopped out onto the snow or ice to   
   >> measure their length and, to estimate weight, their girth at the chest.   
   >>   
   >> Trend analysis showed this body condition decreased until 2000, then   
   >> increased until the end of observations in 2019.   
   >>   
   >> In the spring, when ringed seals give birth to pups on the sea ice,   
   >> polar bears hunt them to build up stores of fat for the ice-free months.   
   >> Aars and his colleagues believe the shrinking ice area may be making   
   >> these seals easier to find.   
   >>   
   >> The bears are also exploiting new food sources. The approximately 250   
   >> individuals that remain on the islands when the ice recedes may be   
   >> hunting more bearded seals along the coast, as well as harbour seals,   
   >> which are spreading to Svalbard as the climate warms.   
   >>   
   >> These “local bears” are increasingly ransacking duck and geese colonies   
   >> for eggs, and they have been seen chasing down reindeer from a growing   
   >> cervid population. The carcasses of walruses, another species that is   
   >> increasing there, can provide weeks of feasting.   
   >>   
   >>   
   >> Alec Luhn / New Scientist   
   >   
   > So it appears that the warming can no longer be dismissed as a hoax.   
    >   
   Thank you for reminding us of that!   
      
   Not sure this is still an issue these days. Almost everyone wants   
   cleaner air, with less smog from vehicles and factories.   
    >   
   > Perhaps soon, people will realize that whether or not the change is   
   > man made,   
    >   
   The hoax was the belief that humans can change the weather, one way or   
   the another. Global warming could be the result of sun flares.   
    >   
   there is something people can do to lessen the effect.   
   > Perhaps, maybe.   
    >   
   The real issue, is the moral flag waving. Almost everyone exhales and   
   eats beef. Some of your best friends probably drive ice cars and buy   
   imported dolls.   
      
   If this is such an important issue, why are some countries still   
   powering energy from coal, instead of clean energy from nuclear?   
      
   I'll start acting like it's a crises, when people like   
   Noah start acting like it's a crises!   
      
   Chinese industry heavily relies on coal for energy, with coal still   
   accounting for roughly 60% of the country's total energy supply and over   
   half of its electricity generation as of 2023-2024.   
      
   As of 2024, coal provides approximately 8% of total primary energy   
   consumption in the U.S.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)