[00:08] Polar bears are specially conditioned for life in the harsh Arctic environment.
[00:13] Polar bears rely on vast expanses of Arctic sea ice to hunt for seals in the fall to build-up enough fat reserves to carry them through the meltdown in the spring.
[00:23] But the future of the polar bear is literally 'on thin ice.'
[00:26] The Arctic has warmed by 2 to 4 degrees Fahrenheit since the 1960's, about twice the rate of the rest of the world.
[00:34] The frozen habitat the bears depend on for survival has shrunk dramatically. Arctic ice melts earlier and forms later, shortening the bears' hunting season.
[00:44] Polar bears are forced to come ashore earlier, undernourished, or weakened from longer swims in the more open sea.
[00:51] Bears have been spotted swimming as far as 60 miles from shore. Some have suffered exhaustion and drowned in search of food or an ice floe.
[00:59] In 2004, polar bears were engaged in cannibalism in areas where there was little ice on which to hunt.
[01:06] By century's end, the summer Arctic ice is predicted to disappear; so, too, would the polar bear.
[01:12] The warmer world we humans are creating has serious consequences.
[01:17] What is happening to polar bears is a preview of changes that will work their way across the globe.
[01:22] The longer we wait to act, the worse the consequences will be for our descendants.
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