Factors that Affects the Arctic's Polar Bear Habitat Essay

Introduction

The Arctic region has extreme temperature and sunlight that constantly change with different seasons. Consequently, it has one of the rarest ecosystems in the world. Only a few species can survive this rather harsh environment of the north pole. The most common mammal that dwells in the Arctic is the polar bear. This ecosystem is their natural habitat. It provides the means for the bears to survive and thrive since it avails food, water, and shelter for them. Several factors influence polar bears habitat. The most significant factors that control and influence polar bears livelihood in the Arctic are the atmospheric, hydrologic, cryospheric, geological, and oceanographic changes within the Arctic's environment. Any shift in the dynamics of the Arctic environment causes profound problems to the bear.

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The polar bear, which is the terrestrial largest flesh-eater, spend most of its life at sea as its scientific name, Urus maritimus, indicates (Norris et al., (2002). However, it does not live in any sea. The survival of the polar bears depends largely on the extent of the sea ice. On the sea ice, polar bears hunt, feed, den, and rest (Norris et al., (2002). As a result, the atmospheric, hydrologic, cryospheric, geological, and oceanographic changes that effects sea ice pose a severe danger to the polar bears' habitat and profoundly implicates on their ecology population, mortality rate, health, and the survival cubs. As a result, it crucial to investigate how these factors affect the Arctic environment and the implications of these elements effects on the life of the polar bears.

Factors that Affect the Polar Bear Arctic Habitat and their Implications

Atmospheric Factors

The atmosphere is the mixture of gases surrounding the earth ("Atmosphere," 2018). Atmospheric factors are the elements related to the atmosphere. The rising global atmospheric temperatures are one of the most vital issues influencing the lives of polar bears. The rising temperatures are warming up the Arctic twice as fast as the global average (World Wide Fund for Nature [WWF], 2015). Subsequently, the sea ice is shrinking rapidly due to the melting ice. The ice cover that remains is thin (WWF, 2015). Since bears mostly survive on hunting seals, which rely on the sea as for pupping and resting, the reducing sea ice shorten the hunting period (WWF, 2015). That forces the bears to fast for longer periods (WWF, 2015). Bears are, therefore, made to enter unfamiliar territories since they must swim into the open sea looking for better icecaps or to get back to dry land (WWF, 2015). The polar bears, thus, are drowning at a bigger rate. Further, increase in the temperatures will cause additional shrinking of the polar bears' habitat. That would increase their mortality rates. Also, the bears are moving closer to human populations as they seek hospitable habitations. Consequently, this could lead to human-polar bears conflict (WWF, 2015). All these events contribute to the reduction of their population at a faster rate.

The high temperatures cause the early break-up of sea ice. That is threatening the survival of cubs because mother gets out with the cubs to hunt seals (WWF, 2015). Seals are ice-dependent (WWF, 2015). Early ice break-ups expose polar bears' cubs to malnourishment (Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee [ARPC], 2001).

Hydrospheric Factors

The hydrosphere is the parts of the of the earth's surface covered with water and include water vapor in the atmosphere and the water of the oceans ("Hydrosphere," 2018). The availability of water highly influences the habitat of terrestrial mammals. Also, marine mammals require water as a basic component for their survival. But the polar bear situation is different. A lot of water, especially rainfall, causes their ice dens to collapse before cubs and adult bears leave (Norris, 2002; WWF, 2015). This exposes cubs to predators and harsh elements, which drastically reduce their survival rates (Norris, 2002; WWF, 2015). Increase in the rain also collapses the dens on the occupants suffocating them (Clarkson & Irish, 1991, as cited in Derocher et al., (2004).

The increase in open waters at the Arctic poses an unprecedented danger to polar bears. Open water reduces the bears hunting efficiency since that makes seals less constrained in their need for breathing openings and pull-out sites. Eventually, this causes the seals less predictable for the foraging bears (Derocher et al., 2004). Increasing open waters in the Arctic pose a special problem to female bears. It forces them to retreat to more icy places to den further from the source of food. As a result, they must fast for longer periods, sometimes even months (Derocher et al., 2004)). The outcome of this has been the change of the preferable habitation for maternity breaks. More importantly, the lack of access to seals for food leads polar bears to be less reproductive since female polar bears cannot stock enough fat for their cubs throughout the winter time fast (Derocher et al., 2004).

Though rainfall is the chief hydrospheric problem affecting polar bears, river systems also have a significant effect on them. These cause the entry of organic pollutants in the Arctic, which threaten the lives of polar bears due to their dependence on a high-fat diet and their high trophic position (Lunn, 2010). These pollutants affect the endocrine and immune systems as well as the reproduction ability of polar bears (Lunn, 2010). But the increase in the influx of freshwater in restricted areas such as fjords has the potential to force seals to population concentration in such areas giving bears a better chance to effectively hunt (Derocher, et al., 2004). However, the overall effect of an increase in open water in the Arctic, as opposed to sea ice, will eventually lead to the fall in the abundance of polar bears over time due to malnourishment (Derocher, et al., 2004).

Cryospheric Factors

The cryosphere is "the portion of the Earth's surface where water is in solid form for at least one month of the year" (Fountain, 2012, p. 405). The well-known cryosphere on earth is the Arctic. The region harsh conditions consequently mean only 67 and 35 species of terrestrial and marine mammals occupy its biome (Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna [CAFF] (2013). Many of these mammals are highly adapted to survive this environment, more so the polar bear. The dispersal of polar bears is partly a role of ice environments that let them hunt and roam easily. This link is more pronounced in the areas of moving ice, between foraging ground and where they give birth to and rear their young (Learmonth et al., 2006 as cited in Furgal & Prowse, 2008). Due to its specialized source of food being the seals, which depend on the ice substrate of suitable status for resting, pupping, and molting, changes on the sea ice affects polar bear livelihood tremendously, (Tynan & DcMaster, F). Therefore, the thawing of the Arctic ice reduces the sea ice, which is the foliage platform for large mammals, like the polar bears (Fountain, 2012; Peschka, 2011).

Sea ice not only acts as the source of food for polar bears but also it offers them a traveling, mating, and breeding space. Any change in "the distribution, duration, and extent of sea ice cover and in the patterns of freeze-up and break up" create a danger to the population ecology of polar bears (Lunn, et al., 2010, p. 26). Recent research shows the population of polar bears has fallen by 20% (Wiig & Aars, 2008).

But the decrease in the Arctic cryosphere potentially poses a greater problem, increase in human intrusion and activities in the region. The reduction of the sea ice coverage, duration, and depth offers human being an easy access to the Arctic (Lunn, 2010). Specifically, shipping, resource exploitation, development, and production are increasing (Lunn, 2010). Various outcomes the Arctic will experience, include the potential pollution, disturbance, and destruction of polar bears natural habitat as well as the potential increase in defense kills (Lunn, 2010). The population of the bears will further reduce, their mortality rate will rise due to pollution and those kills. Humans ice-breaking activities will shrink the sea ice more, leaving the polar cubs exposed to predators and the population without a source of food and shelter - a dangerous and precarious situation polar bears.

Oceanographic Factors

The distribution of marine species follows a pattern corresponding with ocean currents and their dynamics, particularly the flows of nutrients linked with upsurge (Pompa, Ehrlich, & Ceballos, 2011). For instance, Pinniped, (seals and sea lions) kind concentrates in the Antarctic due to the plentiful amount of krill there (Pompa, Ehrlich, & Ceballos, 2011). But ocean currents trajectory keeps shifting because of climate change (Ospina, 2017; Lemmen et al., 2008). Increase in global temperatures causes the Arctic ice to melt introducing large volumes of freshwater, altering the salinity of sea waters (Ospina, 2017). Reduction of the salinity disrupts the prerequisite difference in salt content for the Gulf Stream to flow, thus delaying it out and possibly leading to more extreme temperatures and unforeseen weather conditions globally (Chadburn et al., 2017; Ospina, 2017). These changes find the way to the Arctic, causing further thawing of sea ice, which results in the loss of foliage platform for polar bears (Lemmen, 2008).

Conclusion

The distribution of both terrestrial and marine mammals depends on the atmospheric, hydrologic, cryospheric, geological, and oceanographic factors. The Arctic region suffers significantly from these factors due to the specialized ecosystem and the unique environmental elements in the region. Polar bears are the most prominent mammals in the Arctic. They, therefore, face the harshest implications when increase in temperatures causes the ice to melt at the Arctic. The melting of ice increases the amounts of open water in the region. Consequently, the sea ice becomes inadequate to attract seals near the polar bears' habitat. Consequently, polar bears must swim into the deep sea looking for suitable conditions for feeding, pupping, and denning. Once exposed on the sea, polar bears drown. That has increased the mortality rate of the species. Lack of suitable sea ice deprives them of the source of food, mating, and rearing place. As a result, thinning sea ice has negatively affected their reproduction health and the cubs' survival have been highly curtailed. Other factors such as oceanographic current directional change, shift the ocean ecosystem exacerbate the situation by increasing global temperatures further.

References

"Atmosphere". (2018). Definition of atmosphere in. In Oxford Learners Online Dictionary. Retrieved from https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/atmosphere

"Geology". (2018). Definition of geology in. In Oxford Online Dictionaries. Retrieved from https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/geology

Chadburn, S. E., Burke, E. J., Cox, P. M., Friedlingstein, P., Hugelius, G., & Westermann, S. (2017). An observation-based constraint on permafrost loss as a function of global warming. Nature Climate Change, 7(5), 340-344. doi:10.1038/nclimate3262

Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna. (2013). Arctic biodiversity assessment: Status and trends in Arctic biodiversity. Akureyri: CAFF.

Derocher, A., Lunn, N. J., & Stirling, I. (2004). Polar Bears in a warming climate. Integrative and Comparative Biology, 44(2), 163-176. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/44.2.163

Fountain, A. G., Campbell, J. L., Schuur, E. A., Stammerjohn, S. E., Williams, M. W., & Ducklow, H. W. (2012). The Disappearing Cryosphere:...