Scientists from the University of Washington in Seattle have presented alarming results from a decade of monitoring polar bears in the Arctic region. According to data published in the journal Ecology, global warming is causing ice growths to form on polar bears' paws, causing deep wounds, gazeta.ru reports.
The research team conducted a large-scale study of two populations of Arctic carnivores living in the subpolar regions of Canada and Greenland. Observations conducted from 2012 to 2022 revealed a significant number of injured individuals: in the Kane Basin, more than half of the observed bears had limb injuries, and in East Greenland, injuries were found in one in eight animals.
Scientists have identified three main factors associated with climate change that lead to bear paw injuries. The first is an increase in the frequency of rainfall, which creates conditions for the formation and subsequent freezing of wet snow on the animals' paws. The second factor is associated with the formation of a hard ice crust on the surface of the snow due to frequent temperature fluctuations. The third reason is the deterioration of the quality of sea ice, which leads to water seeping into the snow cover.
The study highlights that climate change not only impacts polar bears' habitats, but also directly threatens their physical health, posing additional risks to the species' survival in the Arctic.
