In my State of the Polar Bear 2023 report for the Global Warming Policy Foundation, I discuss recent news relevant to polar bear conservation and science issues. The most startling of these is the revelation that Western Hudson Bay polar bear numbers have not declined since 2004.
Comments Off on State of the Polar Bear 2023: W. Hudson Bay polar bear numbers have not declined since 2004
Posted in Advocacy, Population, Sea ice habitat, Summary
Tagged annual report, Arctic treaty, Foxe Basin, hunting ban, population, protection, sea ice, Southern Beaufort, Southern Hudson Bay, statistical signficance, western hudson bay
Carl Zimmer over at the New York Times penned a misleading story of speciation, using the polar bear as an example. It explains polar bear evolution based on a genetic interpretation that ignores the fossil record, bear behaviour, and geological history. [h/t Kip Hanson].
In my opinion, this kind of ‘science communication’ is more misleading than enlightening because it fails to alert readers to the fact that the topic is actually more complicated and gives the impression that the author considers readers too stupid to understand a more accurate explanation.
Polar Bear Evolution does a better job for those who are really interested in the process: it doesn’t hide the complicated nature of speciation or polar bear evolution. It doesn’t pretend to present “the truth” but explains how a good scientist gets to a plausible explanation that best fits the evidence.
Continue readingComments Off on NY Times pushes an implausible story of polar bear evolution and what makes a species
Posted in Book promotion, Evolution, science, Summary
Tagged common ancestor, DNA, evolution, hybridization, polar bear, retained genes, shared genes, speciation, what is a species
Is it a coincidence that a paper reporting the results of a no-news study on polar bears, but which predicts future starvation due to climate change, was published two weeks to the day ahead of a climate change marketing event made up by the activist organization Polar Bears International? I doubt it.
And do I think the high-profile journal Nature Communications would not only agree to publish such a useless bit of propaganda but also rig the timing to advance the climate change emergency narrative? Silly question. And the media worldwide are of course lapping it up, happy for an excuse to promote the perils of climate change, see here, here, and here using images of fat polar bears. Image above is from the BBC headline, 13 February 2024.
They believe this strategy is effective because they think the public is stupid, but they are deluding themselves. Most people are now laughing at their obvious acts of desperation.
Continue readingComments Off on When polar bears die, they die of starvation: new Nature paper is propaganda, not news
Posted in Advocacy, Conservation Status, Sea ice habitat
Tagged breakup, climate change, freeze-up, global warming, Hudson Bay, sea ice, terrestrial foods
Even though a big deal was made earlier this year about climate activists not using polar bears anymore to try and sell the climate change emergency narrative, they just can’t seem to help themselves.
So it’s not at all surprising that yet another amateur climate activist has resorted to using the emotional ploy of a photo of a polar bear on sea ice to win the 2023 Wildlife Photo of the Year People’s Choice Award sponsored by the Natural History Museum London (UK).
Said Museum director Dr Douglas Gurr of the photo taken by British amateur photographer Nima Sarikhani: “
His thought-provoking image is a stark reminder of the integral bond between an animal and its habitat and serves as a visual representation of the detrimental impacts of climate warming and habitat loss.“
Continue readingComments Off on Activists just can’t stop using emotional blackmail to sell the climate change narrative
Posted in Advocacy, science, Sea ice habitat
Tagged activists, advocacy, climate change, critical thinking, emotional blackmail, Natural History Museum, photography
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