Polar bears are endangered primarily due to climate change, which is causing rapid loss of their sea ice habitat. Sea ice is critical for polar bears as it enables them to hunt seals, their main food source, rest, breed, and build fat reserves needed to survive when food is scarce. As the Arctic warms and sea ice melts earlier and forms later each year, polar bears face food shortages, malnutrition, and increased risks of starvation. Thinner and more fragmented sea ice also makes hunting seals harder and forces polar bears to swim longer distances, which depletes their energy and sometimes leads to drowning. Additional factors exacerbating their endangered status include exposure to new diseases due to changing habitats, risks from increased human and industrial activities like oil exploration and shipping, pollution, and the loss or degradation of denning habitats for mothers and cubs. These combined pressures reduce polar bear reproduction and survival rates, making them increasingly vulnerable as climate change advances. Despite some legal protections and hunting restrictions, without significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and Arctic warming, polar bears face severe population declines and possible local extinctions by the end of this century.
