Polar bears and the melting of the ice

Polar bears will be wiped out by the end of the century unless more is done to tackle climate change, studies predict. Scientists say some populations have already reached their survival limits as the Arctic sea ice shrinks.
The carnivores rely on the sea ice of the Arctic Ocean to hunt for seals.

As the ice breaks up, the animals are forced to roam for long distances or on shore, where they struggle to find food and feed their cubs.

The bear has become the “poster child of climate change”; if the ice goes, they have no place to go. Polar bears are listed as vulnerable to extinction by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), with climate change a key factor in their decline.