Polar bears depend on sea ice for hunting seals, and accelerating Arctic warming is reducing ice extent in ways that directly affect individual bear welfare and survival.
Polar bear welfare is a direct consequence of climate change — each fraction of a degree of warming that reduces Arctic sea ice extent translates into shorter hunting seasons, thinner bears, higher cub mortality, and more human-bear conflicts that end in bear deaths. Individual bears experience prolonged fasting, failed pregnancies, and starvation as their ice-dependent hunting habitat disappears. The welfare of current polar bear populations will continue to deteriorate in direct proportion to the pace of climate change. Climate action is therefore the most significant welfare intervention available for this species.