Faux polar bear figures – my editorial in the National Post

Published in the Business section (Financial Post “Comments”) of the National Post this morning:

Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images [from original NP essay]

In which I conclude:

“We admire polar bear biologists for their professional dedication to this iconic species, and rightly so. However, while it’s understandable that polar bear biologists are conservation-minded, the public and policy makers need them to be scientists first and advocates for polar bear protection second. Polar bears are currently doing well – data shenanigans to keep them classified as “threatened” undermine the whole point of doing science.”

I have written extensively about the Southern Beaufort issue — below are links to some of these, which have links to the rest. References are included in these individual posts. Contact me if there is a reference you cannot find:

http://polarbearscience.com/2015/01/12/if-summer-ice-was-critical-for-s-beaufort-polar-bears-2012-would-have-decimated-them/

http://polarbearscience.com/2014/12/19/challenging-noaas-arctic-report-card-2014-on-polar-bears/

http://polarbearscience.com/2014/12/17/recent-s-beaufort-polar-bear-count-was-a-cherry-picked-result-new-evidence/

http://polarbearscience.com/2014/11/29/amstrup-knows-his-polar-bear-predictions-are-flawed-but-continues-to-promote-them/

http://polarbearscience.com/2014/03/24/southern-beaufort-polar-bear-decline-reduced-cub-survival-touted-in-2008-was-invalid-pbsg-now-admits/

http://polarbearscience.com/2014/07/31/up-to-20-of-collared-polar-bears-located-on-ice-that-officially-does-not-exist-says-the-pbsg/

http://polarbearscience.com/2014/07/29/sea-ice-experts-make-astonishing-admissions-to-polar-bear-specialists/

http://polarbearscience.com/2013/10/30/polar-bear-cannibalism-and-sea-ice-the-spring-of-1976/

http://polarbearscience.com/2013/07/02/did-polar-bear-numbers-in-e-beaufort-fluctuate-each-decade-due-to-thick-ice-years/

http://polarbearscience.com/2013/06/28/why-is-it-that-every-decade-eastern-beaufort-sea-ice-gets-really-thick/

http://polarbearscience.com/2013/02/21/where-were-the-appeals-to-feed-starving-polar-bears-in-1974/

http://polarbearscience.com/2012/07/26/cooling-the-polar-bear-spin/