Meet the polar bear, a victim of climate change

AMERICAblog links to this important article in the Post. It seems that "polar bears are facing unprecedented environmental stress that will cause their numbers to plummet":

In a closed meeting here late last month, 40 members of the polar bear specialist group of the World Conservation Union concluded that the imposing white carnivores -- the world's largest bear -- should now be classified as a "vulnerable" species based on a likely 30 percent decline in their worldwide population over the next 35 to 50 years. There are now 20,000 to 25,000 polar bears across the Arctic.

"The principal cause of this decline is climatic warming and its consequent negative affects on the sea ice habitat of polar bears," according to a statement released after the meeting...

And what is the U.S. doing about it? Or, more specifically, what is Bush doing about it? Well, nothing:

The panel's conclusions became public this week as President Bush traveled to a Group of Eight meeting in Scotland, where U.S. officials have lobbied to prevent any specific targets for reducing greenhouse gases from being included in the meeting's final communique. The United States is the only member of the G-8 that has refused to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, which calls for reducing emissions that many scientists say are causing Earth to warm up.

Okay, it's not just Bush's fault, and it's not just an American problem. Needless to say, I want Canada to do more to address climate change, too. We know that those in Tuktoyaktuk are first-hand witnesses to climate change, and now we know that polar bears are actual victims of climate change. That's a sad enough story, especially to those of us who care deeply about other species on this planet, but don't think this is just about polar bears, or that somehow we stupid humans will get away with what we're doing without paying a severe price.

This is just the beginning.

And it'll only get worse unless we do something to reverse the environmental havoc we continue to wreak with reckless abandon and thoughtless complacency.