Scientists Believe That Climate Change Could Cause More Polar Bear Attacks

climatecentral.org is reporting of new warnings from scientists of the rising risks of human-polar bear encounters because of climate change.

“A polar bear attack in Canada that left two people injured has brought new warnings from scientists of a dangerous rise in human-bear encounters in a warming Arctic.

The attack was also a reminder of a warming Arctic under climate change. The loss of sea ice is bringing hungry bears into closer contact with humans as they hunt for food, with potentially lethal consequences for both, scientists said.

“The number of bear-human interactions, bear-human conflicts, may be somewhat on the rise,” said Steven Amstrup, chief scientist for Polar Bears International.

“ We have predicted in no uncertain times that as bears become hungrier as the sea ice absence period is longer, more and more of these animals are going to be venturing into communities, venturing into villages, raiding food caches, getting into garbage, and even attacking people. So we predict these kinds of events are going to be more frequent and more severe because of climate change.”

You can read the full report here – Scientists Warn of Polar Bear Attacks in Warming Arctic