With global warming, is it feasible to send polar bears to Antarctica?

Polar bears' survival challenge

Polar bears, as animals of the Ursidae family, are the largest land carnivores in the world, also known as white bears and ice bears. They are large and strong, with adult males up to 1.6 meters tall at the shoulder, weighing between 300 and 800 kilograms, and head and body length up to 2.5 meters. They have almost no natural enemies in the Arctic. However, as the global climate warms year by year, the area of ​​Arctic summer sea ice has shrunk by 40% in the past 40 years (NASA data), and the polar bear habitat is disappearing at a rate of 13% every decade (IPCC report). Their survival is facing an unprecedented crisis.

The survival of polar bears is highly dependent on the sea ice environment. Sea ice is not only the main habitat of polar bears, but also the basis for their hunting, resting and reproduction. Polar bears mainly prey on seals for a living. Its hunting strategy is to crawl on the sea ice and ambush seals that are active in the breathing holes under the ice. Against the backdrop of global warming, several "ice-free season" areas have appeared in the Arctic region. This change has directly led to the continuous shrinking of polar bears' habitats and breeding areas. Satellite tracking in 2020 showed that some polar bears were forced to cruise for more than 10 days to find food, and the mortality rate of cubs soared by 58% (data from the journal Nature). Some polar bears have to enter human areas to find food due to food shortages, which fully illustrates the huge impact of the reduction of sea ice on the survival of polar bears. So in order to protect polar bears, is it feasible to send polar bears to Antarctica?

The possibility of sending polar bears to Antarctica

From the perspective of biological adaptability, polar bears do have the physiological conditions to survive in Antarctica. The polar bear's 10cm thick fat layer can withstand the severe cold of -40℃ and can adapt to the severe cold weather in Antarctica. From the perspective of its hunting ability, as the top predator in the Arctic, polar bears can prey on Antarctic animals such as Adélie penguins and Weddell seals, and it is very likely to become the top predator in Antarctica.

Risks of the Ecosystem

However, we cannot consider this issue only from the perspective of the polar bears' own survival. You know, the entire ecological chain is a closely connected and relatively stable system. Once an alien species invades, it is likely to have an unpredictable and serious impact on the local ecological environment. Just like the rabbit infestation that once occurred in Australia, the rabbits reproduced in large numbers and caused great damage to the local ecological balance. Similarly, if polar bears are sent to Antarctica, pathogenic bacteria in the Arctic may be brought to Antarctica, which is undoubtedly a potential huge threat to the Antarctic ecosystem. Moreover, the number of emperor penguins and Adélie penguins in Antarctica is also decreasing. We cannot destroy the original ecological balance of Antarctica in order to protect polar bears.

The significance of in situ conservation

Since there are many risks in sending polar bears to Antarctica, how can we protect polar bears? Rather than risking the crisis, it is better to focus on restoring the polar bears' native habitat. Global warming is a major background problem currently faced by all living things, so reducing greenhouse gas emissions is a top priority.

At the same time, we must realize that the survival of all living things is inseparable from a suitable habitat. For polar bears, human activities have had a certain impact and interference on them, and we must reduce this impact. The better way to protect polar bears is to adopt in situ protection, that is, to set up a special protection area in its original habitat, so as to protect polar bears while ensuring the stability of the entire polar ecosystem.

Author: Captain of the Fairy

Reviewer: Huang Chengming, researcher at the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Produced by: China Association for Science and Technology Department of Science Popularization

Producer: China Science and Technology Press Co., Ltd., Beijing Zhongke Xinghe Culture Media Co., Ltd.