Can Polar Bears Save the World?
My New Atlantis article on the FWS decision to list the polar as a "threatened species" under the Endangered Species Act is now available online. Here's my conclusion:
the polar bear’s ESA listing will do little to preserve bear populations in the wild. It could complicate other conservation efforts. It will have no effect on the projected loss of sea ice over the next few decades. And it will have no effect on global warming. Getting a handle on anthropogenic climate change will require broad international efforts; jury-rigging a decades-old species-conservation statute just won’t cut it. The polar bear may be an “animal to save the world,” but the Endangered Species Act will do little to save the bear.
Related Posts (on one page):
- Industry Groups Join Polar Bear Litigation:
- Can Polar Bears Save the World?
- Will Walruses Follow Polar Bears?
Needless to say, the arctic ice coverage issue has been getting prominent coverage. In that coverage, AGW features prominently as the root of all evil, with "other causes" coming in a distant second.
Curiously, other than blaming AGW, there was never any evidence provided -- no mention of how temperatures have changed over time.
So, I investigated a little.
To summarize the link:
(The temperature records are courtesy of the University of Alaska, Fairbanks.)
I'm willing to bet that no MSM story about polar bears or arctic ice coverage so much as mentions the temperature series.
I doubt it is due to malfeasance, but rather an unquestioning acceptance of AGW.
Ah, but the whole point to jury-rigging a old statue is to bypass the need for broad consensus.
If so, then the polar bear may indeed be an animal to save the planet, by driving a stake through "Anthropogenic Global Warming".
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