Relentless Inquiry

Dear NRDC,

I often respond to your alerts and emails, but this one is different. I think you are being more than slightly disingenuous here. If the USA suddenly went into compliance with the Kyoto protocol, or even *ceased all* emissions (an impossibility), most reputable climate scientists agree that the results would take 3 – 5 years to take effect. By then, the bears will be GONE.

Instead of trying to use the polar bears as a global warming issue, NRDC and other agencies should be making plans to preserve as many bears as possible in alternate habitats via relocation efforts. The $300,000 you are trying to raise to show commercials could save dozens of live, wild bears that will certainly perish otherwise. It could fund establishment and continuation of a polar bear gene bank, or an analysis of existing captive bear breeding viability and genetic diversity.

Commercials won’t keep the polar bear species alive at this point. Direct action is needed while there’s still a chance at preserving a gene pool sufficient to the task. While curbing global warming is needed to give the bears a habitat to which to return, if we concentrate only on the warming and not on the bears, there will be no population to rehabilitate into the wild.

best regards,
Strata Chalup

PS– Wonder why we’re seeing more and more giant squid and other deep benthic life lately? The beginnings of predicted changes to the deep-water thermohaline cycle could be destroying their habitat, too.