Scientists are racing to save the Last Ice Area, an Arctic Noah's Ark

Charlotte Van Ness                                                                                        January 19, 2022

Chemistry C                                                                                                    Current Event 10

 

Kreier, Freda. “Scientists are racing to save the Last Ice Area, an Arctic Noah's Ark.” Science News, 15 November 2021, https://www.sciencenews.org/article/arctic-last-ice-area-climate-change. Accessed 19 January 2022.

 

For my current event, I reviewed the article, “Scientists are racing to save the Last Ice Area, an Arctic Noah’s Ark,” by Freda Kreier. The article mainly talks about the tragic crisis of climate change, and how climate change has caused the endangerment of polar bears. The author also includes the ideas of many scientists. One of these ideas, is a region in the arctic, dubbed, “The Last Ice Area”; “The Last Ice Area is a vast floating landscape of solid ice extending from the northern coast of Greenland to Canada’s Banks Island in the west. This region, roughly the length of the West Coast of the United States, is home to the oldest and thickest ice in the Arctic, thanks to an archipelago of islands in Canada’s far north that prevents sea ice from drifting south and melting in the Atlantic”(Kreier). This is a quote from the article, elaborating on the area in which polar bears, supposedly, first inhabited. The overall goal of the scientists is to preserve the summer ice in this region, the region in which polar bears now depend on.

            This issue will have a long lasting effect on humanity. The endangerment, and possible extinction of the polar bear would cause vast tragedy. Polar bears are one of the largest land carnivores in the world, and are the apex of the ecosystem. They keep biological populations balanced, which is a significant factor of the ecosystem. And most importantly, they signify the health of the ecosystem. With polar bears on the verge of extinction, the whole ecosystem goes down with them. Our ecosystem is one of the most important parts of our everyday life.