Den stora tråden om global uppvärmning/växthuseffekten

/…/“Inuit believe there are now so many bears that public safety has become a major concern,” said one section of the report, according to the Canadian Press. “Public safety concerns, combined with the effects of polar bears on other species, suggest that in many Nunavut communities, the polar bear may have exceeded the coexistence threshold.”

The renewed focus on polar bears comes after a tragic summer for the region: two people were killed by bears in separate attacks, including father Aaron Gibbons, who died protecting his children.

Researchers agree that polar bears represent a growing threat to Inuit communities, but say that is because climate change has pushed them closer to human settlements – not because the bear population is growing.

“There seems to be a divergence between scientists and Inuit on the threat that climate change poses to this species,” said Andrew Derocher, a polar bear researcher at the University of Alberta.

Scientists and conservation groups have warned that a warming climate has reduced sea ice and the availability of prey, pushing bears on to the mainland – and closer to humans.

But Inuit argue their own observations are often ignored, and the new report highlights a growing tension between scientific research and Inuit knowledge based on from thousands of years of living in the region.

“We know what we are doing, and western science and modelling has become too dominant,” wrote the Kitikmeot regional wildlife board as part of its submission to the report.

“Our knowledge, is not the same as thousands of years ago. If your life depended on it, you’d better know what the ice condition is,” said Gabriel Nirlungayuk, an Inuk hunter of Rankin Inlet. “Our knowledge has always evolved.”

/…/Yet recently there have been claims that polar bear populations are increasing. So what’s going on? There are thought to be between 20,000 and 25,000 polar bears in 19 population groups around the Arctic. While polar bear numbers are increasing in two of these populations, two others are definitely in decline. We don’t really know how the rest of the populations are faring, so the truth is that no one can say for sure how overall numbers are changing.