For my regular visitors, if you find that this blog hasn't been updating much lately, chances are pretty good I've been spending my writing energy on my companion blog. Feel free to pop over to Home is Where the Central Cardio-pulmonary Organ Is, and see what else has been going on.

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

It would be funny...

Gosh, it's been a long time since I've posted! :-/ I just had to make a comment on this blurb I just found.

Polar Bear shot and killed in Iceland

REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) — Police in Iceland say they fatally shot the first polar bear seen in the country in 20 years after the animal threatened people.




They shot it because they didn't have the tools to drug it. Then, at the very end, there's this ...

It’s not known how the polar bear reached Iceland; it may have come on an iceberg or swam. Scientists blame global warming for the disappearance of sea ice — vital for the bear’s survival.

Just what, exactly, does that last line have to do with the story? It just got thrown in there... why? Obviously, the bear's survival is more in danger from wandering into populated areas, threatening people and getting shot, then from lack of ice. Just look at where Iceland is in relation to Greenland. And if you look at this map, you'll notice something else. Iceland is south of the Arctic Circle. No real surprise there, since Polar bears are common in the Churchill area, which is also quite a bit south of the Arctic Circle, even for those who insist it's actually farther south than the maps say. For a bear to get to Iceland is a lot more impressive, though.

Note the article says that they haven't been seen in 20 years - which means they *have* been seen there before. Polar bears are strong swimmers and quite intelligent and adaptable. It's not global warming, anthropogenic or otherwise, that's a problem for Polar bears.

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