Patty Polar bear

 

  I need your help! I am a very sad polar bear because my baby polar bear has been separated from me. Can you help reunite us and other polar bears that might be separated from their family? One day my baby Petunia Polar bear and I were out searching for food when the ice cracked and split, with Petunia on one half of the crack and me on the other. The temperature of the earth has increased so now our ice habitat is melting! Not only does melting ice increase the chance of us being separated from our families but it makes hunting for food really hard to. Many of our neighbor polar bear families have started to go hungry. You are probably wondering how the temperature got high enough to melt my home. And I know you talked with my friends Ophelia Oyster and Dakota Duck, so if you knew the answer was global warming, you are right! Global warming has endangered us polar bears and if nothing is done about it we may become extinct! Extinct means there will no longer be any polar bears ever, anywhere! Not only does melting ice have an impact on us polar bears, but you humans too. When the ice up here melts it goes into the ocean and causes the water level to rise. This means that beaches you use to play on will be underwater! In fact some whole islands will even be underwater. I know this is kind of scary but there are things we can all do to prevent it.  One thing you can do is to turn your heat down in the winter. I know it can get cold sometimes but do what I do and wear a big warm coat. Bundling up in sweaters and turning down the heat is a great way to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Use the same idea in the summer, instead of using air conditioning to cool down go for a refreshing swim!

Polar bears stuck on melting ice

   Another way to help the environment is to ask your parents to buy fruits and vegetables from local sources. When the food you eat has to be transported a long way, lots of fossil fuels are burned in the process. Better yet, plant a garden in your back yard. This can be super fun, and did you know that plants actually eat carbon dioxide! So not only are you consuming local food but the plants are helping to reduce carbon dioxide too. If you can try to do all the things my friends and I have talked to you about I am certain it will help us all.

 Ophelia Oyster will be able to go back to filter-feeder school, Dakota Duck will be able to play in puddles some more, and I will be reunited with my baby! 

Some more detailed information on polar bears and climate change:
http://www.nwf.org/Global-Warming/Effects-on-Wildlife-and-Habitat/Polar-Bears.aspx

For some great facts on polar bears check out:
http://www.davidsuzuki.org/issues/wildlife-habitat/science/critical-species/polar-bear-fact-sheet/index.php?gclid=CMDQrv6A_KcCFRphgwodWEghpQ