Althouse: Polar bears on a rampage!

April 5, 2012

Polar bears on a rampage!

Look out!

25 comments:

Anonymous said...: Oh-oh!

Time for the climate scientists to get out the bailing wire and the duct tape.; 4/5/12, 4:14 PM
The Drill SGT said...: I'm shocked :); 4/5/12, 4:16 PM
Rob said...: Clearly one of the problems with global warming is that we will have fewer... (WHAT? REALLY?) I meant TOO MANY polar bears.; 4/5/12, 4:17 PM
William said...: The polar bears have managed to expand their range and diet. They have learned to hunt zoologists, nature photographers and environmentalists in temperate climates.; 4/5/12, 4:19 PM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: Polar bears are just dumb brown bears that got trapped in the last ice age and evolved into the white form we see now.

Had they been smarter or luckier, they would be sharing pick-i-nick baskets with Yogi and Boo Boo in Jellystone park instead of freezing their little white furry gonads off in the Artic.

Species come. Species go. They adapt or die. Proof of something the liberals are all really hot to trot that we teach in schools....evolution...doncha ya know.; 4/5/12, 4:25 PM
gadfly said...: Apparently you don't believe the WWF propaganda. Not surprisingly, the World Wildlife Federation receives substantial funding from Coca Cola who reminded us of the polar bear plight with its displays on bottles and can around Christmas time and of course the Super Bowl commercial.

Remeber also that the only way to keep some Democrats opposing drilling in ANWR is to declare that the polar bear population is declining.; 4/5/12, 4:29 PM
crosspatch said...: "That’s 66 per cent higher than estimates by other researchers who forecasted the numbers would fall to as low as 610 because of warming temperatures that melt ice faster and ruin bears’ ability to hunt."

Since these earlier estimates were the basis for the EPA imposing regulations on CO2 and the subsequent closings of power plants (and recent rage by the United Mine Workers claiming they were going to meet the same fate as Osama bin Laden), and since these earlier estimates are now shown through direct observational evidence to be wrong, does that mean the EPA regulations should be rolled back?

Also, polar bears can swim for 100 miles across open water. They don't require ice to hunt. They can hunt seals on shore just as well as seals on ice. Seals must come out of the water to rest and sleep and there will always be a polar bear waiting when they do.; 4/5/12, 4:29 PM
Anonymous said...: Manbearpig remains a problem as well. I'm super serial!; 4/5/12, 4:30 PM
purplepenquin said...: Anyone wanna guess how many penguins the average polar bear eats every year?

No fair using google...take a guess.; 4/5/12, 4:45 PM
edutcher said...: You do not mess with polar bears.

Only the tree huggers are too dumb to see it.; 4/5/12, 4:46 PM
Tyrone Slothrop said...: Never mind what a bunch of dumb Inuits have to say about it. We're scientists, dammit!; 4/5/12, 4:48 PM
Mary Beth said...: Anyone wanna guess how many penguins the average polar bear eats every year?

They are at opposite poles. No need to Google it.; 4/5/12, 4:50 PM
bagoh20 said...: I was under the impression that most people already knew a long time ago that the Polar Bear crisis was a lie. It was proven to be bullshit just months after being launched.

Not to mention, the long and still running commercial that shows the bears trapped on a ice berg was staged.

In fact I can't remember the last leftie meme that has panned out. It's been at least a couple years. Suicide watch!; 4/5/12, 5:14 PM
crosspatch said...: Furthermore, not all polar bears even live where there is any ice in summer. There are inland populations far away from the sea coast. Polar bears only occasionally range over pack ice in search of seals. Polar bears range as far South as 100KM South of the Southern end of Hudson Bay. There is no ice on Hudson Bay in summer and there hasn't been for about 20,000 years or so.

Ice is not a polar bear nutrient of some sort and is not required for them for hunting. They WILL use ice for hunting, but most inland populations eat birds(!). Polar bears around James Bay at the very Southern tip of Hudson Bay were found to mostly feed on birds. "Birds, primarily Anatidae, were the most commonly used summer and autumn food of bears in James Bay." according to "The Food Habits of Polar Bears of
James Bay and Southwest Hudson Bay
in Summer and Autumn" by Richard H. Russell; 4/5/12, 5:17 PM
coketown said...: Ho ho, Althouse! You think you're so clever, suggesting an abundance of polar bears dispproves climate change. But no! It's polar bears all the way down! The polar bears are eating all the climate refugees from Sri Lanka--which is why no climate refugees have apparently materialized and the polar bear population is so healthy. Similarly, the missing residents of Sri Lanka are making the island less heavy, causing it to rise and negate the irrefutable effects of climate change.

Even evidence against climate change is evidence in support. Polar bears all the way down.; 4/5/12, 5:19 PM
bagoh20 said...: "The Food Habits of Polar Bears of
James Bay and Southwest Hudson Bay
in Summer and Autumn" by Richard H. Russell"

Top of the NYT Bestseller List for weeks, I bet.; 4/5/12, 5:19 PM
Patrick said...: Purple,

My son tries to trick me with that one at least once a month. Been awhile since I fell for it!; 4/5/12, 5:23 PM
Amartel said...: http://forgifs.com/gallery/v/Concerned_seal.gif.html; 4/5/12, 6:08 PM
Anonymous said...: Maybe some polar bears can be spared to go encourage Volt sales.; 4/5/12, 6:33 PM
Rusty said...: Anyone wanna guess how many penguins the average polar bear eats every year?

No fair using google...take a guess

Polar Bears-Arctic

Penguins- Antarctic

You're going to have to be much better than that.

polar bears estivate-hibernate in the summer- they roam around scavenging in the winter.; 4/5/12, 6:46 PM
traditionalguy said...: The ice sea ice that melts away in the spring and then refreezes over a cold winter is covering double what it covered this time 2 years ago.

But talk about a feed back danger, the surge in polar bears which are ,sadly to report, a carbon based life form, is greatly increasing their carbon paw prints from hot bear breath, bear farts and dancing bears.

Somebody alert the UN propaganda team. It is another coming disaster that Walt Disney can scare the children with.; 4/5/12, 7:51 PM
Anonymous said...: God and nature defeat man once more.; 4/5/12, 9:03 PM
technologist said...: @purplepenguin A: Zero. They live in opposite poles.; 4/5/12, 10:09 PM
traditionalguy said...: The GOP War On Polar Bears is in high gear.

Obama is calling a national Bear Conference to address this bare non-care by the Rich 1% who must be made to pay more taxes to be spent on for Polar Bear Abortions and Polar Bear contraceptives or the Bear population will become " unsustainable."; 4/5/12, 11:12 PM
Carnifex said...: The Republican War on Polar bears is why it is important to support the 2nd amendment, the right to keep and arm bears.

Okay I know you guys is using this to knock the AGW crowd, and I don't blame you one bit. But the corollary to pointing out that the Earths climate is too complex to assign future prognostications towards, the same applies to bear population growth.

It could be that the bears are experiencing a temporary growth spurt due to an abundance of prey because of the warmer temperatures. Eventually though, the population could decline because of loss of camoflage leads to poor or failing hunts. Or it could grow so warm that their prey is adversely affected. It's just too complex to tell.

I personally think the bears are much smarter than man/bear/pig, and will be just fine.; 4/5/12, 11:59 PM