Polar Bears Wearing Cameras and Fitbits Reveal an Arctic Struggle for Survival.

It's not easy out there for a polar bear in the era of climate change, and according to a study released today, it's even harder than previously thought.

"As the sea ice goes, so goes the polar bear":
A camera the scientists attached to a female
polar bear captures a close-up of another bear
on the Arctic sea ice.

When scientists studied polar bears they had captured, outfitted with cameras and released, they found that the bears' metabolism was 1.6 times higher than previously thought, making it harder for the animals to find enough food. In short: too many calories burned and not enough calories consumed.

The study, released Thursday in the journal Science, provides the clearest view yet of polar bear physiology. By approaching the study in a novel way—examining the bear's body condition and affixing cameras with GPS—the scientists were able to see how polar bears spend their time, how successful they are on hunts and how much time they spend walking, swimming or resting.

Read the Inside Climate News story by Sabrina Shankham - “Polar Bears Wearing Cameras and Fitbits Reveal an Arctic Struggle for Survival.”

Brides of the sun: this is what climate change looks like

Everyone has their own idea about what climate change looks like. It's that polar bear adrift on its ice floe. It is an apocalyptic future of cities disappearing beneath the waves. Or it is just a big fat lie.

Agnes Mposwa,15, was married at the age of 14 and has a new baby.

Hardly anyone would imagine it is a young girl sitting in the doorway of a mud hut in a small African village, nursing her first baby as she watches her friends trot off to school.

But a new investigation suggests that girl, and millions more like her, are now the human face of climate change.

As rising temperatures and irregular rainfall throughout Africa have brought more drought and flooding, families once able to feed themselves have seen harvests fail year after year.

Eventually, many conclude that there is only one option left: their daughters have to go.

Read Gethin Chamberlain’s story in today”s Melbourne Age - “Brides of the sun: this is what climate change looks like.”

New climate change symbol - a kid with asthma

The new symbol of climate change -
a kid struggling with asthma.

Forget the polar bear. The new face of climate change is a child with asthma.

In proposing regulations today to slash carbon pollution from power plants by 30 percent, the Obama administration made it clear it will sell the United States’ most sweeping move to fight global warming as a critical health issue.

“This is not just about disappearing polar bears and melting ice caps, though I like polar bears and I know about melting ice caps,” Gina McCarthy, the administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, declared at a press conference this morning. “This is about protecting our health and our homes. This is about protecting local economies and jobs.”

Read the takepart story - “Meet the New Symbol of Climate Change.”