You can help save the Magnificent Polar Bear

Urgent Notice:

Polar Bears are now on the
World Conservation Union's Red List
of Threatened Species.

A report from WWF-Canada

We saw it coming. The reality is now here.

Global warming will result in an alarming decline in polar bear populations within 45 years. The World Conservation Union, a global network of government, non-government and scientific organizations including WWF, recently determined that there is now an even greater risk of extinction of this magnificent species, almost two-thirds of whom are found right here in Canada.

There are several threats plaguing our nation's polar bears today - pollution and industrial development among them.

But none is greater or more challenging than the catastrophic effects of global warming on the polar ice cap, the polar bear's only home.

It seems there's no refuge from global warming -
not even in our great north.

The polar bear, the world's largest terrestrial carnivore, spends much of its life on the frozen sea. They depend on it to reach seals, their main prey. After they feed, the sea ice melts and they come ashore until fall. Their stored body fat must sustain them during the long fast on land.

However, with increasing levels of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels, global temperatures are on the rise. This is causing arctic ice to melt earlier in the spring and form later in the fall.

This leaves polar bears less time to hunt to build up their essential body fat. This has meant starvation for some bears and their young cubs, and even drowning as a result of having to swim too far to reach food. And it will only get worse if we do nothing now.

The troubling facts speak for themselves.

Did you know . . .

- There are now reports of polar bears eating each other to survive in the Russian Arctic

- The summer of 2005 saw the smallest extent of sea ice ever

- Fewer than 25,000 polar bears remain in the wild today

- The Western Hudson Bay polar bear is facing extinction in our children's lifetime

If the warming trend continues unabated, scientists believe polar bears may disappear completely within 100 years.

Imagine. A species that has survived hundreds of thousands of years - and one that is the very symbol of our country's northern wilderness - snuffed out by the time our great grandchildren reach retirement.

But there is hope, you and I stuill have time to stop this horrific and preventable loss.

For our polar bears - and every living thing - support
the WWF-Canada fight against global warming.

Canada's polar bears are just some of the living treasures threatened by global warming. I can name countless others - birds, fish, entire forests and lakes, Nor will humans escape the ravages (look no further than the extreme weather events occurring all around us)!

Climate change is a crisis with very local and personal consequences. And it truly needs to be fought on every scale - local, regionally and globally. There are a number of important changes we, as individuals, can make in the fight against climate change. But a problem of such global proportions requires an equally global organization to tackle it. That's where we come in.

WWF's scope reaches the very top levels of private companies and governments - the organization that must make the most significant contributions in the battle against climate change.

Your donation today at (www.wwf.ca/climate) will increase WWF's ability to save life everywhere.

So what will your support allow WWF to do? Simply, to set up action on the following critical initiatives>

- Protecting fragile ecosystems. WWF fights for the protection of critical natural areas, including the boreal forest, which absorbs an enormous amount of greenhouse gases.

- Influencing government on your behalf. WWF works with governments at all levels to initiate laws and agreements to reduce energy use . . . encourage the development of clean and renewable energy sources like wind and solar . . . and WWF will do everything necessary to ensure Canada meets its international obligations to reduce greenhouse gases.

- Ensuring industry plays its part. WWF partnership with companies like Sony, Johnson & Johnson and others is helping reduce energy consumption while introducing new clean energy into corporate opeartions.

Help stop the neglect of our planet.

Our planet is suffering from decades of neglect. But together we can be the first generation to stop the downward cycle.

As a personal supporter of WWF-Canada I urge you to visit their website and make a donation to help our fight against global warming.

Visit their website www.wwf.ca/climate


Urso Branco


This report was excerpted almost in its entirety from a mailing report from WWF-Canada