Polar bear population set to drop 30% as global warming thaws Arctic sea ice

Polar bear populations are likely to fall by more than 30% by around mid-century as global warming thaws Arctic sea ice, experts said in the most detailed review of the predators to date.

The report, by the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), estimated there are between 22,000 and 31,000 polar bears in the Arctic and said they will be increasingly vulnerable as their habitat shrinks.

“Climate change will continue to seriously threaten polar bear survival in the future,” Inger Andersen, IUCN Director General, said of the study, based on updated counts and new projections of sea ice since a previous review in 2008.