Bleak outlook for polar bear numbers in Arctic ice study

Rising temperatures that melt sea ice in the Arctic will probably reduce the polar bear population by a third over the next few decades, and the same warming trend is likely to worsen the decline of wild reindeer, scientists said on Monday.

The new findings by university and government researchers were presented as part of a panel discussion about climate impacts on wildlife during a meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco. The presentation was streamed live on the internet.

The polar bear research is drawn from new satellite data documenting a loss of Arctic sea ice - the animal's chief habitat - from 1979 to 2015, and forming the basis of projections in further declines of both ice and bears over the coming decades.