- 29% of the Arctic Ocean remains frozen -- less each year.
- Areas of ice that are at least 5 years old decreased by 56% between 1985 and 2007.
- The oldest ice has essentially disappeared.
Polar bear habitat
Where do polar bears live?
Polar bears are found throughout the circumpolar Arctic...- along or near coasts
- on islands
- and most importantly, on sea ice.
Why is sea ice important?
Polar bears live on the annual arctic sea ice that provides a platform from which they can hunt, live, breed, and in some cases create maternal dens.Sea ice is more than a simple platform: it is an entire ecosystem inhabited by plankton and micro-organisms, which support a rich food chain that nourishes seals that in turn become prey for polar bears.
It is the very foundation and defining characteristic of the arctic marine ecosystem.
Where polar bears live
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Where polar bears live
© WWF-Canada / Peter EwinsThreatened polar bear mother and cubs in Hudson Bay.
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Where polar bears live
© WWF-Canon / Miriam GeitzSea ice from the air. The WWF Arctic team and French and German tv ...
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Where polar bears live
© Steve Morello / WWF-CanonPolar bear (Ursus maritimus) on edge of an ice floe, Spitsbergen, ...
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Where polar bears live
© Tom ArnbomPolar bear tracks. Chukotka, Russia.
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Where polar bears live
© WWF-Canon / Martin HARVEYPolar bear adult with young.
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Ice in the Arctic Ocean
This time-lapse video from NASA shows how the extent of sea ice has changed since the 1980s.
