Arctic sea ice reached its annual minimum on September 19 at 4.23 million km2, the 6th lowest in the satellite record. Our chief scientists provide perspective: “This year’s Arctic sea ice melt season is in line with recent trends of a longer melt season and a lower sea ice extent - both are signs of the rapid change occurring with climate warming. This year’s minimum will be just over four million square kilometers, 40% less than what it used to be in the early 1980s. Regions that have particularly low sea ice this year are the Beaufort Sea and the East Siberian Sea, both are important habitat for polar bears. In particular, the polar bear population in the Beaufort Sea has seen dramatic changes in behavior and health due to the shrinking sea ice. Only rapid and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions can halt this trend and ensure stable conditions for polar bear survival.” — Dr. Flavio Lehner, Polar Bears International Chief Climate Scientist and Assistant Professor in Earth and Atmospheric Science at Cornell University For polar bears, the sea ice minimum means cold weather is returning and the ice will start reforming after the summer melt season. What does this year’s ice loss mean for polar bears? “In 1990, the decadal average for the minimum extent of Arctic sea ice at the end of the melt season was just under seven million square kilometers. This year the minimum reached just over four million square kilometers – leaving the Arctic with about three million square kilometers of missing sea ice. Without that ice, polar bears have fewer opportunities to hunt seals, and in some regions, we are seeing the consequences of reduced body condition and declining populations. Climate change action can slow this ice loss and prevent these declines.” — Dr. John Whiteman; Polar Bears International Chief Research Scientist and Assistant Professor of Biology at Old Dominion University Graphs: Dr. Zachary Labe #arcticseaice #seaice #SaveOurSeaIce #seaiceminimum #polarbear #polarbears #climatescience

Looking for a way to zen out this weekend? Churchill has been seeing great northern lights shows recently! Tune in to our @exploreorg Northern Lights live cam to see the spectacular show, live from Churchill, Manitoba. The best times to see them are between 10pm - 4am CT. Link in bio ⬆️ #northernlights #exploreorg #zen #aurora #auroraborealis

Looking for teaching and learning materials for the school year? We offer free resources, created by teachers and informal educators, on topics like polar bears, their sea ice home, climate action, and more. Find helpful presentations and handouts to teach your students or children about polar bears and climate action! Link in bio ⬆ 📷: © BJ Kirschhoffer / polarbearsinternational.org #backtoschool #teachergram #teachersofinstagram #stemeducation #polarbear #polarbears #learningmaterials

Want to teach your students or kids about polar bears? Check out our Paws up for Polar Bears unit! This unit focuses on polar bear ecology, the Arctic, and the impacts of climate change on habitats and natural processes. Download lesson plans that help students learn to understand ecosystems and make informed decisions through problem solving. The curriculum also instills a stewardship ethic and incorporates NGSS and CCSS standards. Link in bio ⬆️ #backtoschool #lessonplans #curriculum #teachergram #teachersofinstagram #stemeducation #polarbear #polarbears

Our team is excitedly preparing the fall season Tundra Connections programming, but did you know all of our previous broadcasts are available in our archive in the meantime? Take a look back at our previous seasons and share countless moments of discovery and learning with our team on the tundra in Churchill, Manitoba. Link in bio ⬆ 📷: © Jenny Wong / @jdubcaptures #BacktoSchool #polarbear #polarbears #teachersofinsta #curriculumplanning

Wishing our polar bear community a playful Sunday 💙 🎥: Our Fall 2022 @exploreorg live cam #polarbear #polarbears #polarbearsinternational #exploreorg #wildlifeconservation #wildlifeonearth #wildlifeofinstagram

Have you heard the news? Our chief scientist emeritus, Dr. Steven Amstrup, recently published a paper that, for the first time, quantified a direct link between greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and polar bear survival. Published in Science, the report provides a template for estimating the demographic impact of proposed GHG-emitting actions on polar bears—overcoming a loophole in the Endangered Species Act (ESA) that has historically blocked climate considerations. The approach outlined in the paper connects the dots between greenhouse gas emissions, the number of ice-free days caused by specific amounts of emissions, and polar bear survival rates. It also explains the recent declining trends observed in some polar bear subpopulations. “We’ve known for decades that continued warming and sea ice loss ultimately can only result in reduced distribution and abundance of polar bears,” says lead author Dr. Steven Amstrup, “But until now, we’ve lacked the ability to distinguish impacts of greenhouse gases emitted by particular activities from the impacts of historic cumulative emissions. In this paper, we reveal a direct link between anthropogenic GHG emissions and cub survival rates. The methodology, for the first time, allows us to parse the impact of emissions by source. Importantly, the approach we describe, using regression analysis to connect GHG emissions to habitat and demographic changes, also has broad application beyond polar bears to other ecosystems and species—and could be used by managers and policymakers around the world when evaluating development projects.” Continued in caption, and learn more in our link in bio ⬆️ 📷: © Kt Miller / polarbearsinternational.org #polarbear #polarbears #polarbearsinternational #endangeredspeciesact #climateaction #climateactionnow #wildlifeconservation

Hey teachers and educators, we have great curriculum for your STEM classes! Our new "Integrated STEM – Polar Bear Math and Science" unit integrates mathematics with polar science in K-12 education, and demonstrates how scientific questions can give rise to mathematical questions. Discover the intersection between mathematics and polar bear science corresponding to each of the mathematical domains outlined in the Common Core State Standards for mathematics. This unit was created in collaboration with Dr. Jody Reimer and Linda Zhao, The University of Utah Department of Mathematics. Link in bio ⬆ 📷: © Simon Gee / polarbearsinternational.org #polarbear #polarbears #teachingideas #STEM #scienceeducation #teachersofinstagram #curriculum #backtoschool

In recent decades, community members near the eastern coast of James Bay have noticed changes in polar bear abundance and distribution along the coast, with more polar bears being sighted while families are carrying out their traditional activities. These observations have prompted questions and concerns from residents regarding the region’s polar bear populations. Recently, a team of Cree land stewards, researchers, and regional wildlife biologists came together to build a project that would gather information about polar bears in the Eeyou Marine Region through the use of hair snares and camera traps, both noninvasive community-supported methods. The goal was to address community questions and fill knowledge gaps about the polar bears in James Bay, which is located at the southernmost edge of the polar bears' range. Alexandra Langwieder, a PhD student at the Northern Wildlife Knowledges Lab in the Department of Natural Resource Sciences at McGill University, shares insights on the project, link in bio ⬆ 📷 & 🎥: Alexandra Langwieder / McGill University #polarbear #polarbears #research #wildlifeconservation #sciencecommunication #wildliferesearch #wildlifebiology

For a brief six weeks in July and August this summer, Polar Bears International piloted the concept of a pop-up interpretive center In Longyearbyen, Svalbard, in partnership with the @svalbard_museum—the Polar Bears International Ice House, the most northern interpretive pop-up in the world. We chose Longyearbyen because it’s a popular stop-off for Arctic cruises, providing us with an opportunity to engage with visitors and inspire them to become involved in action on climate change. We caught up with the two scientists who staffed the pop-up—Dr. Louise Archer and @thelin_larissa—to talk about their impressions of the pilot season and the experience of sharing a conservation message in one of the most remote locations on Earth. Link in bio ⬆ 📷: © Hilde Fålun Strøm / @heartsintheice #polarbear #polarbears #wildlifeofinstagram #climateaction #climateactionnow #wildlifeconservation #outreach #scienceeducation #climatecommunication

Do polar bears have a personal space bubble? Like us, bears can become stressed by their environment, especially if there’s a lot of human activity nearby. Kamryn Dehn recently graduated with her MPS in Marine Biology and Ecology from the University of Miami, and partnered with Polar Bears International for her master's work to investigate the concept of personal space in polar bears. Learn more about her research and findings in our link in bio ⬆ 📷: © Kt Miller / polarbearsinternational.org #polarbear #polarbears #wildlifeofinstagram #wildliferesearch #wildlifeconservation #wildlifeplanet #polarbearfacts #wildlifescience

How does a polar bear spend the summer? It depends largely on where the bear lives. Surprising as it may seem, not all regions of sea ice are the same. The bears in each ecoregion adopt different strategies for summer—but even within each region there can be significant variance, too. Learn more about the different sea ice ecoregions and the different strategies polar bears may adopt for summer in our link in bio ⬆ 📷: © BJ Kirschhoffer / polarbearsinternational.org #polarbear #polarbears #saveourseaice #arcticseaice #wildlifeconservation #wildlifeplanet #wildlifeofinstagram