More about that swimming poley thing

Remember when we were enouraged to remake the world’s economy because CO2 allegedly killed three polar bear cubs? All three may be alive and well

The evidence:  A very small number of adult bears with cubs went swimming. When the adult bears were next seen, maybe a year (or more?) later, less than half the cubs were missing.  Conclusion:  carbon dioxide caused the cubs to drown.

Long-distance swims associated with loss of sea ice may cause problems for Alaska polar bears – The Washington Post

Eleven were mothers with cubs. In six cases, dependent cubs survived the swim when they were spotted again two months to a year later. But five cases, cubs could not be located after the long-distance swim.

USGS research zoologist George Durner said Tuesday that researchers cannot say for sure that the missing cubs drowned, but the evidence suggests long-distance swimming may be risky.

“For me, it raises my eyebrows to see the differences in mortality rates in cubs,” he said. “I wish we had better information to see when the mortality was actually occurring. That would give us a lot more information, but we don’t have that.”

(Tom Nelson)