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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Pepperbeast (talk | contribs) at 01:37, 23 February 2022 (→Semi-protected edit request on 23 February 2022). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Good articlePolar bear has been listed as one of the Natural sciences good articles under the good article criteria. If you can improve it further, please do so. If it no longer meets these criteria, you can reassess it.
Article milestones
DateProcessResult
January 6, 2011Good article nomineeListed
April 10, 2016Peer reviewReviewed
Current status: Good article

Template:Vital article

Out of date controversies

I removed some out of date controversies. Rather than revert, how about some fresher contoversies?

"While listing the polar bear as a threatened species, the Interior Department added a seldom-used stipulation to allow oil and gas exploration and development to proceed in areas inhabited by polar bears, provided companies continue to comply with the existing restrictions of the Marine Mammal Protection Act. The main new protection for polar bears under the terms of the listing is that hunters will no longer be able to import trophies from the hunting of polar bears in Canada.[1]


The ruling followed several years of controversy. On 17 February 2005 the Center for Biological Diversity filed a petition asking that the polar bear be listed under the Endangered Species Act. An agreement was reached and filed in Federal district court on 5 June 2006. On 9 January 2007, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service proposed to list the polar bear as a threatened species. A final decision was required by law by 9 January 2008, at which time the agency said it needed another month. On 7 March 2008, the inspector general of the U.S. Department of the Interior began a preliminary investigation into why the decision had been delayed for nearly two months. The investigation is in response to a letter signed by six environmental groups that United States Fish and Wildlife Director Dale Hall violated the agency's scientific code of conduct by delaying the decision unnecessarily, allowing the government to proceed with an auction for oil and gas leases in the Alaska's Chukchi Sea, an area of key habitat for polar bears. The auction took place in early February 2008.[2] An editorial in The New York Times said that "these two moves are almost certainly, and cynically, related."[3][4] Hall denied any political interference in the decision and said that the delay was needed to make sure the decision was in a form easily understood.[2] On 28 April 2008, a Federal court ruled that a decision on the listing must be made by 15 May 2008;[5] the decision came on 14 May to make the polar bear a protected species.[1] Upon listing the polar bear under the Endangered species act, the Department of the Interior immediately issued a statement that the listing could not be used to regulate greenhouse gas emissions,[6] although some policy analysts believe that the Endangered Species Act can be used to restrict the issuing of federal permits for projects that would threaten the polar bear by increasing greenhouse gas emissions.[6] Environmental groups have pledged to go to court to have the Endangered Species Act interpreted in such a way.[6] On 8 May 2009, the new administration of Barack Obama announced that it would continue the policy.[7] On 4 August 2008, the state of Alaska sued U.S. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, seeking to reverse the listing of the polar bear as a threatened species out of concern that the listing would adversely affect oil and gas development in the state. Alaska Governor Sarah Palin said that the listing was not based on the best scientific and commercial data available, a view rejected by polar bear experts.[8] In March 2013, a United States Appeals Court ruling upheld the "threatened" status of the polar bear against a challenge led by the State of Alaska.[9]~~

References

  1. ^ a b Barringer, Felicity (15 May 2008). "Polar bear is made a protected species". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 June 2008.
  2. ^ a b Hebert, H. Josef (8 March 2008). "Delay in polar bear policy stirs probe". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 9 March 2008.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference campbell was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Editorial (15 January 2008). "Regulatory Games and the Polar Bear". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 October 2008.
  5. ^ Biello, David (30 April 2008). "Court obrders U.S. to stop keeping polar bear status on ice". Scientific American News. Retrieved 8 June 2008.
  6. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference hassett was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ U.S. to keep Bush administration rule on polar bears, McClatchy Newspapers, 8 May 2009
  8. ^ Joling, Dan (5 August 2008). "Alaska sues over listing polar bear as threatened". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 29 August 2008.
  9. ^ Kendall, Brent (2–3 March 2013). "Court upholds polar bears as 'threatened' species". The Wall Street Journal (paper). p. A2.

Physical characteristics

Resolved

This sentence from the physical characteristics section: "Polar bears can swim 10 km/h (6 mph)." should probably read "Polar bears can swim at a speed of 10 km/h (6 mph)." — Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.91.212.222 (talk) 09:18, 16 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks. I've changed to "Polar bears can swim at 10 km/h (6 mph)." Adrian J. Hunter(talk•contribs) 12:19, 27 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Overheating at 10 degrees Celsius

Can someone help me find which source has the following phrase?

"their hide and their fur; they overheat at temperatures above 10 °C (50 °F), and are nearly invisible under infrared photography.[62]"

I went through both sources, but couldn't find it. I also remember reading somewhere they can overheat in temperatures as low as 10 degrees Celsius, when exerting strenuous physical activity, but can tolerate temperatures as high as 25 degrees Celsius when not.

I think the difference between the two should be explained clearly in the article, otherwise makes people think they don't exist in places with summer temperatures of over 10 degrees, which isn't the case at all. Some of the most viable populations experience mean summer daytime temperatures of over 15-20 degrees Celsius annually. 85.153.202.218 (talk) 09:24, 27 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Sounds like nonsense to me. Adelaide Zoo had polar bears and we get temperatures well above 40 °C. I checked source 62 and none of the instances of "overheat" supported the claim. I've removed they overheat at temperatures above 10 °C (50 °F), and are nearly invisible under infrared photography.<ref name="stirling1988" /> "Infra" could not be found in a search of the reference, and that sounds ridiculous, anyway – polar bears are very good at maintaining regular body temperature despite the cold, not at surviving with a low body temperature, so why wouldn't they show up in infrared? Adrian J. Hunter(talk•contribs) 12:17, 27 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Infrared photography is based on surface temperature, not core body temperature, so there's actually a smidgin of truth to this − but it's overstated, as there are many clear IR images of polar bears [1] [2] [3]. Adrian J. Hunter(talk•contribs) 12:50, 27 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]
There's actually a statement like this in the other source (60): "Surprisingly, a polar bears coat is so thick and so effective that almost no heat escapes from the bears body. Scientists tried an experiment. They took pictures of polar bears with an inf rare* camera. Infrared photos show heat, yet the polar bear picture came out blank. The only heat that escaped from the bears’ bodies was their breath." But of course, like you said, it would depend on the camera settings and the temperature of the surrounding environment. So a generalized claim concerning all possible scenarios is an overkill. 85.153.202.218 (talk) 06:25, 28 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Semi-protected edit request on 17 November 2021

Can i pleaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee edit this page 2601:647:4F80:4CA0:6D55:1148:791A:1262 (talk) 06:38, 17 November 2021 (UTC)[reply]

 Not done: this is not the right page to request additional user rights. You may reopen this request with the specific changes to be made and someone will add them for you, or if you have an account, you can wait until you are autoconfirmed and edit the page yourself. Cannolis (talk) 06:46, 17 November 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Semi-protected edit request on 23 February 2022

Section "Life history and behaviour"

Please add the word "been" after "found" to the following sentence: The remains of polar bears have found in the stomachs of large Greenland sharks (Somniosus microcephalus), although it certainly cannot be ruled out that the bears were merely scavenged by this slow-moving, unusual shark. Velvetpirate (talk) 01:28, 23 February 2022 (UTC)[reply]

 Done PepperBeast (talk) 01:37, 23 February 2022 (UTC)[reply]

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