The Climb Down Continues

Ice in the Arctic and Antarctic is 'not melting', says global warming expert

"Dr Peiser, from the Global Warming Policy Foundation says that the poles are "much more stable" than climate scientists once predicted and could even be much thicker than previously thought.

For years, scientists have suggested that both poles are melting at an alarming rate because of warming temperatures - dangerously raising the Earth's sea levels while threatening the homes of Arctic and Antarctic animals.

But the uncertainty surrounding climate change and the polar ice caps reached a new level this month when research suggested the ice in the Antarctic is actually growing.

And there could even be evidence to suggest the polar bear population is not under threat."

Ya think?!?!?!

Twenty Good Reasons...

...not to worry about polar bears and climate change:

"...with a global estimate almost certainly greater than 25,000, we can say for sure that there are more polar bears now than there were 40 years ago."

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"The most recent status assessment for polar bears, published by Environment Canada in May 2014, shows only two subpopulations are “likely in decline,” down from four listed by the PBSG as declining in 2013 and seven in 2010."
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"Baffin Bay earns its ‘likely decline’ status due to suspicions of over-harvesting (so far not confirmed), not sea ice decline. And the recent assessment of Southern Beaufort bears, which was based on a newly-formulated (i.e. untested) population estimate model that used a truncated data set, recorded a decline acknowledged to have been caused by thick ice conditions in spring, not summer ice declines."

Related: Bad news for warmists: Sun has entered 'weakest solar cycle in a century'

"The conceit that human production of carbon dioxide is capable of driving the earth’s climate is running smack into the sun. CO2 accounts for a mere 0.039% of the atmosphere, while the sun accounts for 99.86% of all of the mass in our entire solar system. And Ol’ Sol is not taking the insult lightly. Vencore Weather reports:

For the past 5 days, solar activity has been very low and one measure of solar activity – its X-ray output – has basically flatlined in recent days. Not since cycle 14 peaked in February 1906 has there been a solar cycle with fewer sunspots."

Yah, Sure

UPDATED AND BUMPED:

Are Polar Bear Researchers Blinded by Belief, or Acting Dishonestly?

RTWT.  In short, this article sums up why the hype about polar bears being on the brink of extinction due to global warming, or any other cause, is pure bunk.
More.
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By 2100, polar bears to be on brink of starvation

Have you noticed all these dire predictions have been put off to the very distance future when no one will be left alive who will be able to say the prognosticators were wrong. Hmmmm. Why would that be, I wonder.

Great Moments In ...

... Oh....

Plight of the Polar Bear

"It was August 12, about one month before the sea ice would reach its annual minimum extent after the summer melt, but a vast expanse of open ocean already separated Wrangel Island from the pack ice. Historically, sea ice remained near Wrangel for most of the year.

But climate warming has recently caused the ice to shrink dramatically, and now it’s absent in prime polar bear habitat throughout the Chukchi Sea for several months from mid-summer through late fall. Polar bears need sea ice for all essential aspects of their lives; so why was this bear swimming here?"

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"If humans continue to burn fossil fuels and pump ever- increasing amounts of heat-trapping gases into the air, arctic temperatures will inevitably continue to rise, and sea ice will surely continue to shrivel. Will any polar bears survive anywhere in the wild by the end of this century if we simply carry on with business-as-usual?"

...oooh!

N.W.T. ups price paid for polar bear pelts to $1,750 as demand for the fur rises [Ed. Emphasis throughout mine.]

"Just as Ottawa is drawing up polar bear management plans and mulling the animal’s promotion to National Symbol, the Northwest Territories is now paying an extra $1,350 for polar bear hides.

Hunters in the Northwest Territories used to receive $400 when they submitted polar bear pelts to Genuine Mackenzie Valley Furs, a government-run fur marketer For this season, authorities have upped the figure to $1750."

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"“Hide values have been quite high the last two years; largely reflecting international demand from emerging economies,” said Andrew E. Derocher, a biologist with the University of Alberta.

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"Amid the threat of melting sea ice, Mr. Derocher said researchers rarely take issue with polar bear hunting. “I don’t know a polar bear scientist that hasn’t support subsistence harvests of polar bears — or even sport hunting of polar bears,” he said."

As Russia and China produce more billionaires, offices and homes bedecked in Arctic fur have become a sought-after status symbol. Threats to polar bear populations posed by melting sea ice have only sweetened the deal."

[---]

"Every year, about 450 polar bears are killed and skinned in Canada — largely by Inuit hunters in Nunavut."

[---]

"Amid the threat of melting sea ice, Mr. Derocher said researchers rarely take issue with polar bear hunting. “I don’t know a polar bear scientist that hasn’t support subsistence harvests of polar bears — or even sport hunting of polar bears,” he said.

Ironically, the spike in world demand comes just as domestic desire for polar bear pelts is evaporating. Mr. Derocher is also curator of mammology at the University of Alberta, and he said the program has received an influx donated polar bear pelts in recent months.

“Canadians seem to be saying ‘I don’t want my great uncle’s polar bear hide anymore’ … it’s become politically incorrect to have this threatened species on your wall,” he said."

Comments are worth a read, too. What a scam!!

Related: Record fox fur prices prompt N.W.T trapping hopes