A tough story from Wall Street Journal tries to strike a balance in discussing the listing of the polar bear as a threatened species. The first two graphs:
Visitors to some of the oil fields that fringe Alaska's Beaufort Sea get this rather disturbing warning before venturing out into the Arctic cold: Look carefully under cars in the parking lot and the buildings on stilts. Why? Lurking there may be one of the world's largest land carnivores -- the polar bear, which can actually track a man down.
But who's to protect polar bears against humans? For the past few years, polar bears off the Alaskan coast were observed drowning many miles out at sea. The suspected culprit: fewer ice floes upon which to hunt their favorite meal -- seals -- because of global warming.
The story lays out the facts, clarifying the importance of a "critical habitat" designation, which the Bush administration is not going to grant, unsurprisingly. But best of all is the graphic, which makes easily visible the shrinking of sea ice in the Arctic, year-round, with an annual median....and the surrounding polar bear range, and its shrinkage. Incredible. To see it, go here.
