Keynote Abstract
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The Natural History of Polar Bears and the Significance of Climate Warming Dr. Stirling will describe aspects of the natural history of polar bears, their relationships with their marine mammal prey and their dependence on sea ice as a platform to hunt from. Climate warming is causing significant changes to the distribution and availability of sea ice at critical times of the year. Significant negative effects of the loss of ice on polar bears, and on the seals they depend upon, have been documented in Western Hudson Bay and the Southern Beaufort Sea in Canada. Some effects are also being documented in Svalbard and similar observations will likely follow in other populations.
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