The disappearance of sea ice on Svalbard is forcing polar bears to change their habitats and habits, according to Norwegian scientists from the Norwegian Polar Institute (Norsk Polarinstitutt).
The institute has noted significant changes in sea ice around Svalbard over 20 years of observations, Goarctic.ru reports, citing researchers.
For example, about 300 individual bears of the Barents Sea population remain on Svalbard all year round and hunt on the ice near the islands, and when the ice melts, they are forced to go ashore for a much longer period than 20-30 years ago.
The rest of the bear population follows the sea ice in order to hunt when it retreats northeast in the summer to the Russian Franz Josef Land archipelago (Arkhangelsk Region) in the Barents Sea.
However, instead of returning to Svalbard to build winter dens, they often remain in the north, creating maternity dens in the Russian Arctic.
Theodor Lisovoy, Managing Editor, Rough&Polished
