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U.S. eyes protecting polar bears from warming
Petitioners welcome decision to study Arctic habitat impacts

Associated Press
Updated: 10:09 a.m. ET Feb. 8, 2006

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - In a move hailed by environmentalists, the Bush administration announced it will review whether polar bears should be considered a threatened species given indicators that their icy habitats are melting away due to global warming.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said late Tuesday that protection may be warranted under the Endangered Species Act, and began a review process to consider if the bears should be listed.

The agency will seek information about population distribution, habitat, effects of climate change on the bears and their prey, potential threats from development, contaminants and poaching during the next 60 days before making a decision on whether to list the bears.

The decision comes after the Center for Biological Diversity filed a petition last year that said polar bears could become extinct by the end of the century because their sea ice habitat is melting.

The group, joined by the Natural Resources Defense Council and Greenpeace, also filed a federal lawsuit in December to seek federal protections for the polar bear.

“I think it’s a very important acknowledgment that global warming is transforming the Arctic and threatening polar bears with extinction,” said Kassie Siegel, lead author of the center’s petition.

Full story at:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11233316/