Recently I had lunch with some friends. Die-hard liberals, passionate about what they believe. I am always at odds with them because I am skeptical about everything they say. One of our last conversations was about the consensus among scientists on global warming. I can't for the life of me remember if I've said something about this here or not, but I had a discussion with this guy about the supposed consensus, and looked it up. I found a website here that keeps a repository of articles and research that contradicts the 'consensus'. I emailed some things to the guy I was discussing this with, and he got pissed.

Anyway, the subject of polar bears came up. Looking at the website I found this link that clearly shows there is no dramatic drop in polar bear populations, as has been suggested on television and the Internet.

In this study hunting explained 85% of the documented deaths of adult female polar bears (Amstrup and Durner 1995). Natural mortalities were not commonly observed among prime age animals (Amstrup and Nielsen 1989), and we still know little about the proximate causes of natural deaths among polar bears.

In the early 1990s, the trends described above suggested a population that could be approaching carrying capacity and was either stable or growing more slowly than in the early 1980s. More recent data suggest an alternate hypothesis: Apparent density dependence was a function of more transitory ecological effects. The apparent continued growth of the population into the late 1990s and the expansion of numbers of maternal dens as well as expanded areas used for denning (see below) appear to contradict earlier conclusions regarding carrying capacity and density effects. This suggests that issues related to population status should be revisited (Amstrup et al. 1986, Amstrup 1995, Amstrup et al. 2001, McDonald and Amstrup 2001).

Estimated numbers of bears at the close of the study were relatively large. Effects of the increasing human intrusions into the polar bear environment have not been observed at a population level, suggesting that proactive management can assure coexistence of polar bears and human developments.

Absolute numbers of bears, however, still are small compared to many other species. Early estimates suggested the additional loss of as few as 30 bears each year might push the total take from the population to the maximum sustained yield (Amstrup et al 1986, Amstrup and DeMaster 1988). Excess take did precipitate a decline in the 1960s and 1970s. Hence, although populations may now be near historic highs, managers must be alert to possible changes in human activities, including hunting and habitat alterations that could precipitate future declines.

Very interesting indeed. Hunting explained 85% of documented deaths of female polar bears, and populations may now be near historic highs. And, in case you missed it, at the very end of the excerpt, it suggests human activity should be monitored.