In 2007, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed to list the polar bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. The Endangered Species Act, enacted in 1973, is the nation's primary tool for conserving imperiled plants and animals.
The Secretary of Interior listed the polar bear as threatened but restricted the Endangered Species Act's protections and thus the polar bear's future is still very much in jeopardy
The Endangered Species Act's ultimate goal is to recover threatened and endangered species to the point where they no longer need the law's protections.
The chief threat to the polar bear is the loss of its sea ice habitat due to global warming. However, the polar bear is also stressed by other human activity, particularly oil and gas development activities in its habitat.
According to scientists, saving wildlife from the threat of global warming requires more than reducing global warming pollution. To help wildlife cope with the stress caused by climate change, natural resource managers must take action to reduce non-climatic stressors. In the case of the polar bear, this means that natural resource managers must limit oil and gas development in the polar bear's habitat. The Alaskan polar bear population relies heavily on the Arctic coastal plain for denning. It also relies on the ice on the Beaufort and Chukchi seas for both denning and hunting. Both of these habitat areas are threatened by increasing oil and gas development. Although the polar bear is now listed as a threatened species, the Secretary of Interior limited certain protections for the polar bear and will allow oil and gas development to continue in important polar bear habitat.
The Secretary of Interior listed the polar bear as threatened but restricted the Endangered Species Act's protections and thus the polar bear's future is still very much in jeopardy
The Endangered Species Act's ultimate goal is to recover threatened and endangered species to the point where they no longer need the law's protections.
The chief threat to the polar bear is the loss of its sea ice habitat due to global warming. However, the polar bear is also stressed by other human activity, particularly oil and gas development activities in its habitat.
According to scientists, saving wildlife from the threat of global warming requires more than reducing global warming pollution. To help wildlife cope with the stress caused by climate change, natural resource managers must take action to reduce non-climatic stressors. In the case of the polar bear, this means that natural resource managers must limit oil and gas development in the polar bear's habitat. The Alaskan polar bear population relies heavily on the Arctic coastal plain for denning. It also relies on the ice on the Beaufort and Chukchi seas for both denning and hunting. Both of these habitat areas are threatened by increasing oil and gas development. Although the polar bear is now listed as a threatened species, the Secretary of Interior limited certain protections for the polar bear and will allow oil and gas development to continue in important polar bear habitat.
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