The success of two WWF-sponsored sailing voyages crossing the polar bear’s entire Arctic habitat has brought mixed feelings. Without climate change, they would have been much harder to complete.
Last summer the sailing ship Silent Sound left from Victoria, in British Colombia, for the fabled North West Passage across the top of the American continent. At the same time the Explorer of Sweden left Stockholm to take on the equally notorious North East passage, which hugs the northern coastlines of Scandinavia and Russia.
WWF supported the expeditions to highlight the dramatic decreases in Arctic sea ice triggered by the onset of climate change. In the early 1980’s the ice at summer’s lowest expanse covered about eight million square kilometers. It reached a historical low point in 2007, covering just over half that area. If left unchecked this will disrupt the entire Arctic ecosystem and completely destroy the habitat of the polar bear.
The two voyages described a route right around the top of the Earth that has been extremely difficult and dangerous for non-icebreaking ships throughout recent history. The first confirmed sea crossing through the North West Passage was not until 1906. The North East passage has been explored by many European nations down the centuries as a shortcut from Europe to Asia. But it was only completely navigated from west to east in 1878.
Both modern day expeditions experienced relatively little difficulty and only took about four months to complete their journeys. The fear is that increased commercial shipping and oil exploration activity, made possible by the receding ice, could put further pressure on Arctic wildlife.
The expeditions witnessed more stark evidence of climate change effects on the region. The Explorer came across tens of thousands of walruses marooned onshore because of a lack of sea ice and had a close encounter with an inquisitive polar bear that nearly climbed on board the ship.
Geoff York, WWF’s Arctic Program’s polar bear expert said: “The lack of summer sea ice which made our trip possible makes life for polar bears much more difficult. As the ice recedes, bears are forced to travel far offshore in search of prey or to gamble and risk spending a summer on land.”
In order to preserve polar bear habitat it is now imperative for us to combat climate change by reducing worldwide carbon dioxide emissions. This has now become a key focus for WWF’s global activities.